The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics - Tapa dura

Wilentz evinces a vast knowledge of the American past while exploring, in his unique way, the interplay between raw party politics and the ebb and flow of reform efforts. In offering his take on pivotal figures from Jefferson to Du Bois, Lincoln to LBJ, Wilentz challenges us to debate history and ideas in a way that honors the best of the democratic system he has written about so provocatively throughout his career. Even when I most disagree with him, his arguments are always vigorous and passionate, lively and engaging.--Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This stimulating book provides a major new interpretation of the alliance between egalitarian social movements and partisan politics to achieve some of the most notable liberal victories in the American past. Sean Wilentz has done more than anyone else to blend social and political history in a manner that offers powerful new insights.--James M. McPherson Engrossing and deeply enriching...Wilentz the historian is visiting the past to send a message to those of us who live in the 21st century. A shrewd and engaging assessment of the variable American tradition of egalitarianism, particularly as manifested in the political lives of Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, right up through Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society--scrupulously detailed, elegantly written, incisively argued, and effectively combative.--Philip Roth A bracing and persuasive defense of political partisanship as essential to a functioning democracy, and a timely reminder that from the country's earliest days, political struggle has been the most effective mechanism for moving America toward the egalitarian ideals enunciated in its founding documents. It is a message that American citizens should never forget.--Annette Gordon-Reed

Sean Wilentz presents two key insights that reveal a much-needed vision of American political history. Firstly, partisanship has almost always been a feature of American history and has made possible its greatest social reforms. Secondly, the recent attention to economic inequality has a long history. From the founders' generation to the present, America's egalitarian tradition has appeared and reappeared like an underground river.