The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It
Great American Political Thinkers In the year of 1776, the United States became an independent country. At that moment, the great men who fought for its independence began to create the government and shape American politics. In Richard Hofstadter's The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, he identifies twelve of the most influential men and the political traditions they created, including the Founding Fathers who started it all. Additionally, Hofstadter informs the reader of other significant government officials including Andrew Jackson and his democracy, the progressive, trustbuster Theodore Roosevelt, and ending with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his programs of the New Deal. Richard Hofstadter's ideas are brilliantly elucidated with his stunning choice of words and information. He begins the background with none other than the original American politicians - the Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers, the men who began American government, created the basis of politics that future leaders would adhere to. Richard Hofstadter focuses, in this chapter, on ideas that shaped policy. He does not necessarily focus on certain men, although the most common of the Founding Fathers are James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. Another key father was John Jay who believed that "the 'better kind' will be led by their own insecurities" on their social and political positions. While building the basis of American government, the Founding Fathers made decisions of what the government should consist of, created devices for check and control, and linked liberty directly to property. Although the Founding Fathers were creating a government for the first time, they knew that it should consist of a democracy. They trusted it should be a government between anarchy and tyranny, to please the majority of the country. John Adams believed that they should strive for government that would naturally