Icons of democracy : American leaders as heroes, aristocrats, dissenters, and democrats /

The most profound and disturbing examination of the dangers and possibilities of democratic leadership since Richard Hofstadter's classic, The American Political Tradition, this book traces a fundamental tension between leadership and popular democracy that has animated American life from the R...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miroff, Bruce
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York, NY : Basic Books, 1993.
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

MARC

LEADER 00000cam a2200000 a 4500
001 ocm26314226
003 OCoLC
005 20220707093756.0
007 ta
008 920505s1993 nyu b 001 0deng
010 |a  92053245  
019 |a 788024588 
020 |a 0465087477 
020 |a 9780465087471 
020 |a 0465032613 
020 |a 9780465032617 
035 |a (OCoLC)26314226  |z (OCoLC)788024588 
040 |a DLC  |b eng  |c DLC  |d JQL  |d BAKER  |d NLGGC  |d BTCTA  |d YDXCP  |d UBC  |d GEBAY  |d GBVCP  |d OCLCO  |d OCLCF  |d OCLCO  |d OCL  |d DEBBG  |d SE4M6  |d OCLCQ  |d MFM  |d OCLCO  |d OCLCA  |d SNN  |d PEX  |d OCLCQ  |d HUELT  |d OCLCA  |d OCLCQ  |d OCLCA  |d UKBTH  |d OCLCA  |d L2U  |d OCLCQ  |d IL4J6  |d OCLCO  |d OCLCQ  |d OCLCO  |d MZ4  |d OCLCO  |d VLA 
043 |a n-us--- 
049 |a VLAM 
050 0 0 |a E183  |b .M69 1993 
080 |a 973 
080 |a 65.012.4 
080 |a 32 
080 0 |a 320(73 
082 0 0 |a 973/.099  |2 20 
084 |a 15.85  |2 bcl 
084 |a 89.54  |2 bcl 
100 1 |a Miroff, Bruce. 
245 1 0 |a Icons of democracy :  |b American leaders as heroes, aristocrats, dissenters, and democrats /  |c Bruce Miroff. 
260 |a New York, NY :  |b Basic Books,  |c 1993. 
300 |a ix, 422 pages ;  |c 25 cm 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-410) and index. 
505 0 |a Alexander Hamilton: The aristocratic statesman and the constitution of American capitalism -- John Adams: merit, fame and political leadership --Abraham Lincoln: democratic leadership and the tribe of the eagle -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton: dissenting leadership and feminist vision -- Theodore Roosevelt: heroic leadership and masculine spectacle -- Eugene V. Debs: dissenting leadership and democratic dignity -- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Democratic leadership and the modern state -- John F. Kennedy: heroic leadership for a television age -- Martin Luther King, Jr.: dissenting leadership and democratic redemption -Democracy and leadership in America. 
520 |a The most profound and disturbing examination of the dangers and possibilities of democratic leadership since Richard Hofstadter's classic, The American Political Tradition, this book traces a fundamental tension between leadership and popular democracy that has animated American life from the Revolution through the turbulent 1960s. Miroff examines nine emblematic political giants - Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene Debs, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. - revealing stunning differences in their passions for distinction, commitments to democratic education, uses of drama and even demagoguery, and responses to class, racial, and sexual tensions. Some show a deep commitment to nurturing the democratic dignity of the citizenry and empowering the excluded; others display elitist proclivities and pander to popular adulation. Even the best intentioned leaders, argues Miroff, may undermine the equality and participation of ordinary citizens. Blending history, biography, political theory, and political science, the book uncovers disquieting implications in the careers of some familiar American heroes, and presents new insights into major American figures. We watch as Alexander Hamilton battles Aaron Burr, the demagogue who would destroy all the aristocratic statesman had labored to build. We observe Abraham Lincoln disciplining a youthful instinct for superiority while constructing the most haunting of all American images of democratic leadership. Teddy Roosevelt emerges as an amusing yet troubling figure whose artful spectacle of heroic leadership enervated citizens as much as it entertained them. And we are challenged by the presence of Martin Luther King, Jr., as a doomed prophet of democratic redemption. By reexamining and reinterpreting the leadership of these nine figures, Miroff plumbs our national heritage to determine what leadership has meant - and can mean - in American public life. "In an era when American leadership seems sunk in petty power struggles and shallow media spectacles, Miroff writes, "some of our icons have much to teach us about the forms of leadership that can still speak to the democratic possibilities of the American people." 
650 0 |a Political leadership  |z United States  |x History. 
650 0 |a Statesmen  |z United States  |x History. 
650 0 |a Dissenters  |z United States  |x History. 
650 0 |a Heroes  |z United States  |x History. 
651 0 |a United States  |x Politics and government. 
776 0 8 |i Online version:  |a Miroff, Bruce.  |t Icons of democracy.  |d New York, NY : Basic Books, ©1993  |w (OCoLC)607687533 
948 |a Held by VLA - 902 other holdings 
994 |a C0  |b VLA 
998 |a lower 
999 |c 342274 
852 |a Law Library  |b Lower Level  |h E183 .M69 1993  |p 33940004630537