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The House of Truth
A Washington Political Salon and Foundations of American Liberalism
By (author)
Brad Snyder
Genres:
History of the Americas, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies
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Synopsis
In 1912, a group of young and ambitious bureaucrats and thought-leaders, disillusioned by the progress of change in the Taft Administration, transformed the house they shared into the capital's foremost political salon. Self-mockingly referred to as the "House of Truth," the row house was the residence of the young Felix Frankfurter and the aspiring journalist Walter Lippmann, and their guests included Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Herbert Hoover,
and sculptor Gutzon Borglum (later the creator of the Mount Rushmore monument).
Weaving together the stories and intellectual trajectories of these figures Brad Snyder shows how the progress of their thinking about government and policy, shifted from a firm belief in progressivism-the belief that the government should protect its workers and regulate monopolies-into what we call liberalism, the belief that government can improve citizens' lives through legislation while still being prevented from abridging their civil liberties and eventually civil rights. This
fascinating historical and biographical narrative reimagines and recreates the birth of the minimum wage, child-welfare laws, banking insurance, Social Security, and other programs that we now take for granted. In essence, the origins of the New Deal and American Liberalism can be traced to a row house in
Dupont Circle. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
"For the first time, we have the real story of this incredible little galaxy that included such disparate figures as Felix Frankfurter, Walter Lippmann, and Gutzon Borglum, and reached out to cultivate and invigorate the aged Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes--with profound and lasting influence on the course of American politics. Brad Snyder tells this story with verve and insight. This is a major work in the history of this nation's public life." -- John Milton
Cooper, Jr., author of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
"With his deep understanding of history and the law, Brad Snyder has crafted a notably illuminating and refreshing book. Deeply researched and finely written, The House of Truth brings to life a group of brilliant friends whose passion for justice helped shape what became known as the American Century." -- David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story
"This dazzling book provokes reconsideration of the Progressive era, legal reform and modern American liberalism. I know of no other work that so ably transports its readers into the packed and exciting years of the early twentieth century." -- Laura Kalman, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara
"The author's focus on the significance of the Supreme Court makes the book unusually timely. An accomplished, authoritative history of American liberalism."--Kirkus
"Lengthy, lively, and exhaustively researched... At its best, which is much of the text, The House of Truth does what history can do to evoke the past, explain its issues, re-create its personages and illuminate the present."--The Wall Street Journal
"The legal historian Brad Snyder has reconstructed the glories of this group house in a bulging, careful study of its inhabitants... Snyder's account usefully maps a hinge moment in American political history."--The Atlantic, Franklin Foer
"This is a highly readable volume from which both experts and the merely curious can profit."--CHOICE Reviews
Cooper, Jr., author of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
"With his deep understandin
"This dazzling book provokes reconsiderat
"The author's focus on the significance
"Lengthy, lively, and exhaustively
"The legal historian Brad Snyder has reconstructe
"This is a highly readable volume from which both experts and the merely curious can profit."--CHOICE Reviews