America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics [Hardcover]

Bill Kauffman (Author), Gore Vidal (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995

Bill Kauffman, described by the Washington Post as having the "pleasantly wicked touch of H. L. Mencken", examines the cultural factors and political schisms of 20th-century American nationalism. He weaves a fascinating tale that links Sinclair Lewis to NAFTA, 'The Best Years of Our Lives' to Ross Perot, and the Old Right to the New Left. He discusses the Perot phenomenon, the presidential campaign and the influence of Pat Buchanan, the impact of free trade agreements, the film industry of the 1930s, and a fascinating cast of characters and causes in what is sure to be controversial reading. As Gore Vidal notes in his foreword, "By studying our history [Kauffman] has latched on to some interesting facts (as opposed to opinions) that completely turn inside out the tedious liberal versus conservative debate, or grunting contest."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The America First movement is populism based on the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson, according to Kauffman, an editor for American Enterprise magazine. Here he traces the history of this movement from the birth of the nation up to the 1992 presidential campaign of Ross Perot, who, he claims, galvanized voters sufficiently to convince them that the Democrats and Republicans, "our two-for-the-price-of-one political parties," are united in opposition to populism. Kauffman's treatise should prove to be controversial, no doubt intentionally, because his many villains include presidents Lincoln, Wilson, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt and Reagan, while among his heroes are Hamlin Garland, Sinclair Lewis and William Fulbright. Kauffman pontificates, "There is an enormous gulf between those who live in America and those who run it." One wonders: Where do they live, those who run our country?
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Technically, Kauffman examines the "political underpinnings" of the cultural disturbances of the 20th century. However, the result is more a defense of the old Populist ideals going back to the days of Thomas Jefferson. The heroes here are the Midwestern populists who opposed the Civil War, advocated isolationism, and retreated from world involvement. While the populist movement had many worthy goals, this work reflects their "crankier" features: anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, conservatism, and extreme isolationism. The heroes are staunch isolationists like William Borah, Gerald Nye, Charles Lindbergh, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and Sinclair Lewis. While he condemns Wayne Cole's Roosevelt and the Isolationist (Univ. of Nebraska Pr., 1983), the author does not provide the depth or even the research to match Cole's work. This book is instead based on shallow research and supported only by works that support the author's conclusions. Its only appeal is for those who wish to gain limited insight into the thinking of "Midwestern Progressives."?Richard Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1st edition (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879759569
• ISBN-13: 978-0879759568
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to build a Left-Right coalition, June 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics (Hardcover)

This terrific study of American "isolationism" (i.e., non-interventionism) may be one of the most important political manuals of the last several years. And it may be the first why-to/how-to guide for building a viable Left-Right political coalition. You see, as Kauffman explains it, an America First, mind-your-own-business foreign policy is one area where the far Left and the far Right have often agreed. Therefore, although you might expect this volume to be filled with profiles of Pat Buchanan and other right-wingers, it's not; rather, it examines the ideas of such notable America Firsters as Jack Kerouac, Gore Vidal, and Edward Abbey--all of them Men of the Left. The New Left of the 1960s and much of today's non-interventionist, anti-state Hard Right have a lot in common, Kauffman says. Perhaps it's time the two extremes joined hands in defiance of America's Military Industrial Complex

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solace for the lonely pacifist, February 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics (Hardcover)

This is an entertaining, entirely readable book about the men and women who went against the grain and refused to see the virtue in America's interventionism and imperialism in the 20th century.

These are not the people who opposed the war in Vietnam. There are hundreds of books about that. These are the real isolationists: the ones who failed to support WWII in spite of the fact that their dissent ruined their reputations and sometimes careers.

America First! is the ultimate book for people who refuse to follow the crowd and who cannot bring themselves to believe that sometimes it's okay to send young men to agony and death overseas.

As the previous reviewer noted, Kauffman writes about people and the left and on the right because, of course, both parties were unabashedly in favor of fighting both world wars and pacifist conservatives and liberals were always on the fringes. Kauffman offers some memorable anecdotes and introduces some truly interesting characters (like the Roosevelt relative who helped FDR cheat on Eleanor but could not stomach his bloody war and wasn't ashamed to admit it).

If you feel like you're the only pacifist on earth, read this book and discover that you're among some amazing company. Thank you, Mr. Kauffman.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview of American non-intreventionism, May 11, 2011

By 

Efrem Sepulveda "history geek" (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics (Hardcover)

This 255-page book contains information on the rise of the non-interventionist movement in America that started in earnest at the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898 as well as continued history from that time. Midwestern populists who wanted to be left alone and advocated non-interference and free trade overseas is covered in the first chapter which included Hannibal Hamlin Garland and Amos Pinchot, two now forgotten men that wrote copiously about the culture that they grew up in and were provincials who beleived that their communities provided sufficient culture for themselves without the help of outsiders. William Sayoran and John Dos Passos were also mentioned as men who wanted America to keep to itself.

The book spend time in covering particular non-intervnetionalists who for one reason or another saw the its folly. They included former senator William Fulbright, author Gore Vidal, Arizona curmudgeon Edward Abbey, beat writer Jack Kerouac and socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of Teddy Roosevelt.

In each case, they saw the dangers of omnipotent governemnt, the concept of largeness in general and the folly of going overseas to make things right in the world which was summed up in the dictum of John Quincy Adams that our government should not go overseas to seek monsters to destroy. Since this book was written in 1995, we have seen the bitter fruit of our nation making the world "safe for democracy" once again. Our treasury is exhausted, our military is fighting a pointless war that could last years and the moral fabric of society is fraying due to our constant involvement overseas. In short, the author wants us to "come home" and put our own house in order and heal our nation.