The Cycles Of American History: Updated Edition―A Political Historian's Reflection on Two Centuries of Pragmatism vs Idealism

by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., first revealed the sequences that governed American politics over the past two centuries in The Cycles of American History. In this updated edition, the prominent political historian continues to reflect on the "recurring struggle between pragmatism and idealism in the American soul" (Time). Faced with a new century, a new millennium, and social and technological revolutions, Schlesinger confronts the possibility of a revolution in American political cycles.

Genres: History, American History, Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, American, Americana

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr., born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger, was a Pulitzer Prize recipient and American historian and social critic whose work explored the liberalism of American political leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. He served as special assistant and "court historian" to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He wrote a detailed account of the Kennedy Administration, from the transition period to the president's state funeral, titled A Thousand Days. In 1968, he actively supported the presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy until Kennedy's assassination in the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, and wrote the biography Robert Kennedy and His Times several years later.

He popularized the term "imperial presidency" during the Nixon administration by writing the book The Imperial Presidency.

His father was also a well-known historian.

Reviews

[Lauren Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart smart smart. That's what I kept thinking. I particularly liked his essay on affirmative government. But I think I'll let him speak for himself (or let the others who he let speak for him speak for him!):

“'America is continuously struggling for its soul.'” Gunnar Myrdal, 21

“I inherit an alternate interpretation of this cyclical phenomenon from my father, who defined the swing as between conservatism and liberalism, between periods of concern for the rights of the few and periods of concern for the wrongs of the many.” 24

“'Give a man everything he desires and yet at this very moment he will feel that this everything is not everything.'” Kant, 28

“Disappointment is the universal modern malady.” 28

“'Americans tire, after twenty years, of a steady diet of …high falutin and meaningless words…Tired to death of intellectual charlatanry, [the citizen] turns to honest imbecility.'” H.L. Mencken, 31

“No nation is to be trusted further than it is bound by its interest.” 52

“'No lesson seems so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you should never trust experts. If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe.'” Lord Salisbury, 1877, 62

“'The hard-liners in the Soviet Union and the United States feed on one another.'” JFK, 63

“'Doctrines are the most frightful tyrants to which man are ever subject.'” William Graham Sumner, 67

“'If you want war, nourish a doctrine.'” William Graham Sumner, 67

“World law must express world community; it cannot create it.” 72

“In practice, moralistic declarations serve less as a restraint on self-serving action than as a pretext, generally transparent, for such action.” 74

“Moralization shifts international relations from the political mode, which is conditional, to the ideological mode, which is unconditional.” 74

“'Moral indignation corrupts the agent who possesses it and is not calculated to reform the man who is the object of it.'” Sir Herbert Butterfield, 74

“A fanatic, Mr. Dooley reminds us, ‘does what he thinks th’ Lord wud do if He only knew th’ facts in th’ case.’” 75

“Morality in foreign policy consists not in preaching ones values to lesser breeds but in living up to them oneself.” 81

“'Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others?'” 117, Jefferson

“'History is…an argument without end.'” Pieter Geyl, 164

“'A declaration, I regard as algebra, but an agreement as practical arithmetic. I do not wish to decry algebra, but I prefer practical arithmetic.'” Stalin, 172

“'Soviet policy is amoral, United States policy is exaggeratedly moral, at least where non-American interests are concerned.'” Anthony Eden, 173

“Lorenzo Dow’s definition of Calvinism: you will be damned if you don’t, and you will be damned if you do.” 199

“The American version of laissez-faire meant aid from the state without interference from the state.” 234

“'Protectionism is socialism…if employers may demand that ‘the State’ shall guarantee them profits, why may not the employees demand that ‘the State’ shall guarantee them wages?'” William Graham Sumner, 234

“Government off the back of business means business on the back of government.” 243

“Voluntarism…helped the unscrupulous at the expense of the responsible.” 242

“Those who would now have government abandon social responsibility in the name of unbridled individualism are doing Marx’s work for him…” 244

“The men of wealth…act on the beautiful maxim, ‘Let the government take care of the rich, and the rich will take care of the poor’ instead of the safer maxim, ‘Let government take care of the weak, the strong will take care of themselves.’” Orestes Brownson, 244-5

“an emetic is not necessarily a cure.” (on Reaganomics), 246

“If the rich really believed in the salubrious effects of economic insecurity, they would favor a 100 percent inheritance tax so that their children would not be denied this great moral benefit.” 247

“By the Reaganite creed, the poor need the spur of poverty in order to succeed, and the rich the spur of wealth.” 247-8

“Where liberalism wants to regulate corporations and liberate individuals, conservatism, it would appear, wants to liberate corporations and regulate individuals.” 248


“'Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.'” Mark Twain, 263

“…only minor political parties have indulged the luxury of consistency ‘with the result that they have nearly always stayed minor.” Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., 264

“'It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.'” Twain, 265

“War wimp is ‘one who is all to willing to send others to war but never gets around to going to war himself.'” Congressman Andrew Jacobs, 295

“Thomas R. Marshall, Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President, used to tell the story of two brothers: ‘one went to sea, the other was elected Vice President, nothing was ever heard of either again.’” 337

“'The only business of the Vice President is to ring the White House bell every morning and ask what is the state of health of the president.'” Thomas Marshall, 346-7

“'The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.'” Oscar Wilde, 374

“'Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.'” John F. Kennedy, 412

“The key to all ages is…imbecility.” Emerson, 424

“'In a rebellion, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.'” Tocqueville, 427

“'Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.'” Reinhold Niebuhr, 435

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after Schlesinger gave a talk about this book at Miami University when I was a graduate student there. This might have been the first major author talk I ever attended. This book has bouyed me through many difficult political moments since then, though I have to say 2025 is really pushing the limits of my optimism. I do wonder what he would have to say about the current swing of the pendulum.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book where I encountered the idea of cycles in history. also that a person's political orientation is most likely to correspond that the prevailing zeitgeist at the time of their adolescent 'awakening'.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

One year and three days - a nice long stretch to have a book as a companion. I jumped in and out of this book of essays, appreciating Schlesinger's examination of historical topics and recognizing the essays as historical documents themselves from the middle of the Reagan presidency. The final major essay dealt with the cycle of presidential reputations, noting the ebb and flow of appreciation for Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower and Kennedy. It would not have hurt to skip "Leadership and Democracy".

[Don Siegrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sometimes interesting tour through American history from a liberal lens. Since I consider myself a liberal I agreed with much of Schlesinger's opinions. The trouble is that much of the book focuses on the era in which the book was written, the 1980's Age of Reagan and the Cold War which, unbeknownst to the author, was about to suddenly end. The title is misleading as only the first chapter deals with cycles in American history. That chapter is a tour through various cyclical theories but Schlesinger really never settles on one. I would have enjoyed this much more if I read it 40 years ago.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schlesinger's essays vary wildly in quality. He's got a fascinating essay about the history of the vice presidency, a compelling argument that imperialism is more a product of politics than economics, and a short but interesting profile of Alexander Solzhenitsyn mixed in with an analysis of the origins of the Cold War that was so boring I skipped half of it and more vapid JFK quotes than anyone should ever be subjected to.

[Thomas Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense. Thought provoking. Not an easy read (at least for me.)

[Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots of interesting points raised... i do feel like a more knowledgeable person after this book and that was what i wanted from this

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Cycles of American History" is a book written by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., an American historian and political commentator. The book was first published in 1986 and is a work of political history that analyzes the recurring patterns of American politics and society.

Schlesinger argues that American history is characterized by a series of cycles, each of which is marked by a distinctive set of political, economic, and social conditions. These cycles are driven by a range of factors, including economic growth and contraction, technological innovation, and demographic change.

Schlesinger identifies three main cycles in American history: the cycle of democracy, the cycle of conflict, and the cycle of complacency. He suggests that these cycles reflect a basic tension between the forces of change and the forces of stability in American society, and that they have played a major role in shaping the course of American history.

"The Cycles of American History" has been widely influential in the fields of American history and political science. Schlesinger's ideas have been used to analyze a wide range of political and social phenomena, including the rise and fall of political parties, the impact of technological innovation on society, and the evolution of American political culture. The book remains an important work of historical analysis and continues to be studied and debated by scholars and commentators.

GPT

[Matt Shake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very convincing argument for the inherent stability of the American political system--which has aided in the relative social stability of this nation. The book argues that the founders knew what they were doing when they designed this system so that no political faction of the American political landscape could easily dominate others. A convincing antidote to the social and political cynicism that abounds in America today (including in my own mind sometimes)! Still I can't help wonder what Schlesinger would think of recent events like the Supreme Court's argument that limiting corporate finance of political campaigns constituted a violation of free speech protections. Or the recent ineptitude of the federal Congress to work together to find a compromise on our bloated federal budget that would neither cripple us in the long term or the short term.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pending.

[Leonard Singer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair statement of liberal analysis but poor regarding JFK for whom author worked.