The Two Faces of Liberalism: How the Hoover-Roosevelt Debate Shapes the 21st Century

Back

The Hoover-Roosevelt debate of the 1930s is the contemporary American political, economic, and moral conversation that shapes public policy in the twenty first century in a very powerful way. The very questions that concerned these two presidents are also our burning questions of today. The themes of liberty vs, security, freedom vs, regulation, representative democracy over against the administrative state and an independent judiciary, so important and visionary then, are still the fundamental questions in a world of terrorism, globalization, and uncertainty.

The aim of this collection is not to substantiate or disprove any of the prevailing theories regarding the Great Depression and the New Deal. The aim is to present the original arguments which will allow the actors and documents to speak for themselves, thus promoting a conversation between the present generation and the most prominent actors of the New Deal era.

The original readings selected and edited here will encourage us to take a fresh look at the material surrounding the New Deal controversy. The speeches and addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, along with sample Acts of Congress, the presidential platforms of the two major political parties, as well as critical Supreme Court decisions that first declared the core legislation to be unconstitutional and then constitutionalzed the New Deal, have been collected under one roof and assembled in an accessible and yet comprehensive fashion.

The book should be read by 20th century / New Deal historians, researchers and graduate students in history, public policy, economic thought, ethics, politics, and political science. In addition, high school teachers of American history will find this book to be especially rewarding.

Pre-publication Reviews:
"This well-conceived and thought-provoking documentary volume casts fresh light on a
clash of political philosophies that roiled American life for a generation and continues to
affect it to this day."
George H. Nash,Historian