British Conservatism and American Liberalism in Mid-Twentieth Century: Burkean Themes in Niebuhr and Schlesinger

This article looks at how Reinhold Niebuhr and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. drew on themes in Edmund Burke’s conservative writings to express ambivalence about equality and populism on behalf of progressive goals, and how they offered an alternative understanding of liberalism as the pursuit of progressive values restrained by respect for conservative virtues. The article pays particular attention to Niebuhr’s and Schlesinger’s views on successful leadership. Like Burke, these mid-century liberal theorists advocated the adoption of the virtues of the British aristocratic ruling class to check leftist populism. On the surface, their praise of aristocratic virtues may seem incompatible with their undeniable celebration of American democracy during the mid-twentieth century. Closer examination suggests, though, that their praise of democracy has a Burkean tinge.