"Lincoln and the Politics of the "Towering Genius

Bibliographic Data

ID5772866
AuthorsSteven B Smith (corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume7
Issue3
Pages375-399
Publication date2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Political Thought (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2161-1580 • E-ISSN: 2161-1599
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/698601
OpenAlexW2884328626
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited18

This article examines Lincoln's "Lyceum Speech" with its concern for the "towering genius" in politics against the backdrop of the recent rise of populism and demagoguery. Lincoln's concern was with a new kind of problem, namely, the appearance of the romantic hero in politics, a figure presaged in the writings of Emerson and Thoreau and that took the form of radical conscience politics. The model of the transcendental hero was John Brown, whose abolitionist impulse put individual conscience above the law. I contrast the transcendental hero to Lincoln's conception of constitutional statecraft as based on an ethic of moderation and self-restraint. The article concludes with a contrast between Lincoln and Tocqueville's worry that the American democratic republic would be characterized by the absence of individuals of grand ambition. Lincoln, I argue, is a better guide to the politics of the contemporary moment

Genius · HERO · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education · Thoreau and American Literature

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