Force and Ideas

The acclaim for Lippmann the political thinker has at times obscured the equally impressive accomplishments of Lippmann the journalist. His output was prodigious, his influence on journalism significant. According to James Reston: "He has given a generation of newspapermen a wider vision of their duty." Early Writings provides a unique opportunity to rediscover this journalistic Lippmann and to observe the formative years of a brilliant mind.In 1913, just three years out of Harvard, Lippmann was asked by Herbert Croly to help plan and edit a new "weekly of ideas," the New Republic. Beginning with its first issue in 1914 and continuing through the following six years, Lippmann wrote numerous signed and unsigned articles. Here are the best of them, written during the exciting political era that began with the trauma of World War I and ended in the stasis of Republican Normalcy.Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., places Lippmann in historical context while recreating the intellectual ambiance of the Wilsonian era. His annotations identify little-remembered personages and clarify issues that time has befogged. But in another sense, the issues and personages of 1910-1920 are only too familiar. Our world is still a world of war, ineffectual international political organizations, disappointed idealism, nerve-wracking platitudes, social unrest, and slinking politicians.

War And Peace; Force And Ideas; Defining Terms; Vera Cruz; Timid Neutrality; Life Is Cheap; A Little Child Shall Lead Them; Are We Pro-German?; Trade And The Flag; An Appeal To The President; Mr. Wilson'S Great Utterance; America To Europe, August, 1916; Perishable Books; British-American Irritation; Poltroons And Pacifists; The Will To Believe; America Speaks; The Defense Of The Atlantic World; The Conditions For Peace; The World In Revolution; The Great Decision; Beyond National Government; Assuming We Join; Politics; The Palmer Letter; Taking A Chance; Brandeis; Untrustworthy?; The Case Against Brandeis; The Issues Of 1916; At The Chicago Conventions; The Puzzle Of Hughes; The Progressives; Honor And Election Returns; Chicago-December Fifth; In The Next Four Years; And Congress; Thank You For Nothing; Leonard Wood; The Logic Of Lowden; Mcadoo; Chicago 1920; Is Harding A Republican?; Unrest; Quiet, Please; Minimum Wage; Devil'S Advocates; Lending And Spending; The Railroad Crisis And After; The Averted Railway Strike; An Ineffective Remedy; Can The Strike Be Abandoned?; The Campaign Against Sweating; Shorter Hours; The N.A.M. Speaks; Mr. Rockefeller On The Stand; The Rockefeller Plan In Colorado; Unrest; Arts And Other Matters; Legendary John Reed; Freud And The Layman; Scandal; The Footnote; Inconspicuous Creation; "Plumb Insane"; Angels To The Rescue; "Americanism"; Miss Lowell And Things; Science As Scapegoat; The Lost Theme; The White Passion