The Notes (49 page)
Madison, James
(1751–1836): Fourth president of the United States and principal drafter of the U.S. Constitution. He was a Founding Father whose belief in individual liberty led to the Bill of Rights. He worked closely with George Washington to establish the new federal government.
Magee, John Gillespie, Jr.
(1922–1941): Anglo-American aviator and poet who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and died in a midair collision during World War II.
Mao Zedong
(1893–1976): Han Chinese revolutionary and Communist who led the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death. His political strategies are collectively known as Maoism, and he is said to have laid the foundations for modern China. Because his social and political programs also cost millions of Chinese lives, his legacy is controversial.
Marshall, Henry
(1954– ): National Football League athlete who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1976 to 1987.
McCracken, Paul
(1915– ): American economist who chaired the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under President Nixon and attempted to curb inflation. He now teaches at the University of Michigan.
McCulloch, John Ramsay
(
1789–1864): Leading Scottish economist in the Ricardian school. He was an early advocate of advanced statistical analysis and the publication of economic data.
McGovern, George
(1922– ): Historian and former U.S. representative, senator, and Democratic presidential nominee. He lost badly to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election. He has since served as ambassador to the U.N. on World Hunger and was named 2008 World Food Prize Laureate.
Mill, John Stuart
(1806–1873): British philosopher and author of
On Liberty
, a hugely influential work on the limits of power and the importance of self-government.
Montessori, Maria
(1870–1952): Italian educator and philosopher best known for her unique Montessori method of education, which gives children more freedom and self-direction than conventional education.
Montesquieu (Charles-Louis de Secondat)
(1689–1755): French political philosopher known for his articulation of the separation of powers and the classifications of governments.
Moulton, John Fletcher
(1844–1921): English mathematician and weapons adviser for the British war effort during the First World War.
Muhlenberg, Peter
(1746–1807): Revolutionary soldier in the Continental Army; he became both a representative and a senator for Pennsylvania.
Mussolini, Benito
(1883–1945): Italian political leader credited with the creation of fascism. He implemented a terrorist police state in Italy after a coup in October 1922. Mussolini led Italy into the Second World War by declaring war on both France and Great Britain in 1940.
Ortega y Gasset, José
(1883–1955): Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist who advocated perspectivism while the Spanish government transitioned between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship.
Paine, Thomas
(1737–1809): American revolutionary and author of the influential
Common Sense
. His pro-revolutionary propaganda pamphlets were instrumental in spurring the colonists to declare independence from the Crown.
Pascal, Blaise
(1623–1662): French mathematician and inventor of the mechanical calculator. He converted to Catholicism late in life, abandoning his scientific work and pursuing theology.
Paul, Randolph
(1890–1956): Credited with creating the modern tax system, including the Internal Revenue Code, he served as the director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Penn, William
(1644–1718): English philosopher and founder of the colony of Pennsylvania. He advocated religious freedom and democracy in colonial America.
Pericles
(
495– 429 BCE): Greek statesman and general of Athens during the Peloponnesian War. He is most famous for his written history of the war and his commentary on the war’s revelation of human nature.
Pétain, Philippe
(
1856–1951): French general made famous for his outstanding leadership during the Battle at Verdun (World War I). He was appointed the premier of France during World War II, and his government quickly set up an authoritarian regime.
Peterson, Wilfred
(1893–1954): Senior officer in the Royal Navy. He participated in the naval battle that sank the German battleship
Bismarck
.
Pius XII, Pope
(1876–1958): Head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1939 until his death. He was a staunch opponent of communism and contributed to the rebuilding of Europe after World War II. Historians continue to debate whether he responded appropriately to the Holocaust.
Rauschenbusch, Reverend Walter
(1861–1918): Christian theologian and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American Social Gospel movement.
Read, Leonard
(1898–1983): founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, the first modern American libertarian think tank. Ayn Rand was an important adviser of his.
Rogers, Will
(1879–1935): American cowboy, humorist, and actor who often provided political and social commentary. He was one of the best-known celebrities of the 1920s and 1930s, and he was beloved by the American people until his death in an airplane crash.
Roosevelt, Franklin
(1882–1945): Thirty-second president of the United States. Along with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, led the Allied Powers against Germany and Japan in World War II. He was the only American president ever elected to more than two terms, and his domestic politics revolved around resuscitating the country’s ailing economy.
Seneca, Lucius
(c. 3 BCE–65 CE): Tutor and adviser to the emperor Nero. He was a Roman Stoic philosopher and dramatist from the Silver Age of Latin literature.
Shaw, George Bernard
(1856–1950): Irish playwright and cofounder of the London School of Economics. He wrote over sixty plays, most of which dealt with social problems. He was very concerned with the exploitation of the working class and remained a staunch socialist until his death.
Slichter, Sumner
(1892–1959): Famous labor economist of the 1940s and 1950s. His was the standard economics textbook in America before 1950, and he informally advised President Harry Truman.
Smith, Adam
(1723–1790): Key figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, he was the author of the first modern work of economics,
The Wealth of Nations
. He is widely known for pioneering modern capitalism, as well as for his moral philosophies.
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
(1918–2008): Russian and Soviet novelist who helped make the world aware of the Soviet Union’s forced labor camps through his writings.
Sorensen, Theodore
(1928–2010): President John F. Kennedy’s special counsel, adviser, and speechwriter. He drafted much of Kennedy’s Cold War correspondence and influenced foreign policy.
Spencer, Herbert
(1820–1903): English philosopher and sociologist of the Victorian era. He wrote
Principles of Biology
, wherein he coined the term and concept “survival of the fittest.”
Stalin, Joseph
(1879–1953): Dictator of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death. He fostered a cult of personality around himself and launched a command economy. He was also responsible for the Great Purge, a campaign to exterminate dissidents in the Communist party.
Sun Tzu
(544–496 BC): Chinese philosopher, military general, and strategist who is believed to have been the author of the famous military strategy book
The Art of War
.
Thomas, Norman
(1884–1968): American socialist and pacifist who was a six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.
Tocqueville, Alexis de
(1805–1859): French political thinker and historian known for his work on social conditions in western society. He wrote
Democracy in America
.
Toynbee, Arnold Joseph
(1889–1975): British historian who wrote a popular twelve-volume analysis of civilizations. In the early twentieth century, he was a prominent consultant to the English government on international affairs, particularly in the Middle East.
Tytler, Alexander Fraser
(1747–1813): British lawyer and writer who wrote cynically of democracies during his time as a professor in Scotland.
Webster, Daniel
(1782–1852): American statesman during the antebellum period. He was Andrew Jackson’s conservative counterpart, and he served in the House and the Senate before becoming secretary of state under three presidents.
Williams, Jack
(1909–1998): Thirteenth governor of Arizona. He was a political conservative, mayor of Phoenix, radio announcer, and advertising writer.
Willkie, Wendell
(1892–1944): Dark-horse Republican Party nominee in the 1940 presidential election. He lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt and subsequently became the president’s ambassador-at-large.
Wilson, Woodrow
(1856–1924): Twenty-eighth president of the United States. A leader of the Progressive movement, he led the United States in the First World War and later promoted his plan for the League of Nations. He was known for his idealistic internationalism, calling for the United States to fight for democracy abroad.
Winthrop, John
(1588–1649): Wealthy Puritan who obtained a royal charter from King Charles I to lead a group of fellow Englishmen and Englishwomen to the New World. He was elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629.
Wolfe, Thomas
(1900–1938): Master of autobiographical fiction. He wrote four lengthy novels and many short stories, most of which reflect on American mores and culture of the time. He is said to have influenced authors Jack Kerouac, Ray Bradbury, and Philip Roth.
Wormser, Rene A.
(1896–1981): Counsel for a congressional committee commissioned to investigate tax-exempt foundations that were allegedly working—through education, government, and media—to turn America into a socialist nation.
W
ith thanks to my wife, Anne Brinkley; and my assistant, Sara Haji, of Austin, Texas.
To John Heubusch, who took the time to share his thoughts. To Nancy Reagan. To my friends Bob Barnett, Tim Duggan, Jonathan Burnham, Fred Ryan, and Joanne Drake.
And to James A. Baker III, a great source of wisdom, for all the encouragement.
—Douglas Brinkley
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.
Acton, John Dalberg, Lord, 54
Acts, Book of, 100
Adam and Eve, 251
Adams, John, 34
Adams, Samuel, 9
Adenauer, Konrad, 185
adolescence, 226, 241
advancement, 155
advice, 218, 220
Aesop, 58
African Americans, 58
Alford, Henry, 67
America:
greatness, 78–79
ideal, 38
loving, 27–28
promise of, 33, 55
American Indian, 223
American Revolution, 65
Amiel, Henri Frédéric, 145
anarchy, 3, 6, 42, 58
Anderson, Maxwell, 166–70
anti-busing campaign, 179
Antigone, 119
Antonius, Marcus, 156
Aptheker, Herbert, 56
Aristophanes, 72
Aristotle, 158
Army, U.S., 66–67
Aspasia, 91
atheists, 202
Athens, 97
Australia, 8
bad ideas, 159
barbarian, 78
Barden, Graham, 186
bargains, 232
Bastiat, Claude-Frédéric, 19–20, 43, 92–93
Belloc, Hilaire, 78
Benton, William, 137
Bill of Rights, 60
Booth, William, 93
borrowers, 24
bosses, 253, 260
bourgeois, 48
Bradford, Ralph, 104–5
Brasco, Frank, 199–200
Brezhnev, Leonid, 234–35
Briggs, Mario, 199–200
Brownfield, Alan C., 86
Browning, Robert, 146
budget, balancing of, 16–17, 18, 257
buffalo, 221
bugs, electronic surveillance, 189, 214
bureaucracy, 19, 40, 44, 93, 103–4, 228
Burke, Edmund, 39, 87
Burns, James McGregor, 132–33
Burton, Richard, 190
Bush, George H. W., 248
Bush, George W., 248
California, 178
campus riots (1960s), 57
Cantor, Eddie, 145
capital punishment, 161
capitalism, 40, 56, 87, 133, 136
Carnegie, Dale, 150
Chambers, Whittaker, 8, 115
character, 12, 41, 43, 155, 157, 170
charity, 164, 171
see also
welfare system, welfare state
Chesterton, Gilbert K., 170–71
children, 198, 204, 207, 210, 224, 225, 229, 242, 246, 250, 258
Chinese proverb, 80, 146
Christians, 73
Churchill, Winston, 15, 39–40, 69, 74, 88–89, 131, 154, 243
Cicero, Marcus, 18, 90–91, 131–32, 155
cities, violence in, 85
citizenship:
accountability, 104–5
responsible, 22
City Upon a Hill, 7
civil liberty, 7
Civil War, U.S., 67
civilization, 35, 51, 86–87, 100
decline of, 8, 110
coercion, 72, 82
Cold War, 73
Colossians, Epistle to, 161
Commager, Henry Steele, 10
communication, 158, 251
communism, 25, 38, 48, 49, 56, 77, 129, 136, 180
Communist Party USA, 49, 73
compassion, 206
computers, 194
Conant, James, 94
confidence, 196
Confucius, 145–46, 156
confusion, 80
Congress, U.S., 3, 13, 60, 189, 234, 246
conscience, 155, 200, 205
conservatism, 18, 185
Constitution, U.S., 5–6, 10, 25, 26, 42, 54, 60
abuse of, 83
misconstruction of, 9, 60
presidential powers and, 14–15
Coolidge, Calvin, 23, 44
corruption, 222
costrophobia, 246
Cotton, John, 53
courts, 26
credit, 204
crime, 102, 190, 222, 254
criticism, 150, 152, 173, 194, 226, 242
crowd control, 253
Cub Scouts, 28
Czechoslovakia, 131
debt, public, 109
deceit, 160
Declaration of Independence, 34, 61, 124
defense, 23, 70
deficits, 16–17, 22
democracy, 6, 74, 97, 132, 143
Democrats, 179, 184, 191
demonstrations, public, 101
Demosthenes, 71
Denning, Alfred “Tom,” Lord, 54
despotism, 4, 9
destiny of man, 88
Dickinson, John, 118
dictatorship, 15, 97
dieting, 191
diplomacy, 48–49
disability, 96
disadvantages, overcoming, 145–46
disagreement, 171
discipline, 242
doctors, 209, 216–17, 231, 240
duty, 88, 89, 154, 263
Eban, Abba, 80
Ecclesiastes, Book of, 160
Eckerman, Johann Peter, 79
economists, 192
economy and economics, 11, 23–24, 190
planned vs. unplanned, 103
virtue of, 109
Eden, 222
Edison, Thomas A., 220
education, 83, 86, 94–95, 99, 158, 177–78, 211, 225
federal control of, 21, 185–86
Einstein, Albert, 230
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 70
electric chair, 102
emancipation, 58
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 141
employment, 41
enemy, 252
equality, 55, 133
error, prevalence of, 79
estate, progressive, 24
Etienne, Henry, 217
evil, 59, 161
exaggeration, 191, 196
excellence, 170
existence, 73
Exodus, Book of, 161
experience, 210, 239
expertise, reliance on, 19
faith, 170–71
Federalist Papers, 57
Federalists, 6
finances, 26
fishing, 191, 200, 230
flattery, 203, 204
fools, 160
Ford, Gerald, 234–35
foreign aid, 18, 131–32, 255
foreign policy, 132–33, 134
forgetfulness, 197
forgiveness, 170–71, 211, 252
Frankl, Viktor, 164
free enterprise, 15, 22, 25, 40, 149, 255
free markets, 9–10, 103
freedom, 104–5;
see also
liberty
freedom from want, 85
freedom of choice, 33, 60, 61, 62
freedom of the individual, 51
freedom of religion, 28
freedom of the press, 13–14, 35, 36
friendship, 83
frugality, of government, 12–13, 14, 109
Fulbright, J. William, 10, 129
future, 117
Gandhi, Mohandas, 151
Garfield, James A., 150
Gates, Frederick, 94–95
gathering storm, 74
gentlemen, 142
Gladstone, William, 25
glass houses, 237
goals, 164, 206
God, 7, 77, 93, 115, 116, 119, 120, 122, 124, 125, 165, 166–67
Goebbels, Joseph, 101
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 79, 147
Goldwater, Barry, 183
Gompers, Samuel, 45–46, 62, 95, 109
government, 197, 256, 257
accountability of, 252
government
brassiere compared to, 229
cost of, 93
expansion of, 19, 20–21, 37, 41, 53, 55, 83, 92, 207, 249
forms of, 15
frugality of, 12–13, 14, 109
local, 44
limitation of, 41
moral obligations of, 12
as necessary evil, 59
popular morality and, 78–79, 91, 104–5
powers of, 4, 11, 41
proper role of, 12, 13, 14, 21, 35–36, 38, 41, 42, 43, 52, 55, 82, 92
relief, 16
representative, 15
government spending, 203
financing of, 26
reduction of, 59, 216
grace, 161