This week on q a, president ial historian Richard Norton smith discusses his book, an uncommon man the triumph of Herbert Hoover. Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Well, its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. If you remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, maybe 43, about the century of the common man, and wallace from a left of center perspective, was projecting in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. And it wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create, at home, a true democracy. A place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place in the political spectrum. He was, in effect, making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. I shouldnt paraphrase it, but when you get sick, you want a
This week on q a, president ial historian Richard Norton smith. He discusses his book an uncommon man the triumph of Herbert Hoover. Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. If you remember Vice President Henry Wallace who was the second of the fdrs game a speech about the common man and wallace from the leftist Center Perspective was projecting in effect the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii, and it wasnt simply to defeat the nazis but to create at home a true democracy a place where the common man would finally come into his own, and hoover approached this from a different place in the political spectrum, and he was in effect making the case for what we might call amerit ameritaucracy. When you get sick you want a doctor, when you go to war you want an able general. You get the picture. The advances in soc
Richard norton smith, why did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago uncommon man . Well, its taken, actually, from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. Remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe43, about the century of the common man. And wallace, from a left of center perspective, was projecting, in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. And it wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create at home a true democracy. A place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place on the political spectrum. He was, in effect, making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. But something to say, that i shouldnt paraphrase it, but, you know, when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. When we go to war, we want an uncommonly able general. Yo
Did you call your book that you wrote 35 years ago, uncommon man . Richard its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. Remember Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe 1943, about the century of the common man. And wallace, from a left of center perspective, was projecting the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. It wasnt enough simply to the nazis, but to create at home a true democracy, a place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place on the political spectrum. He was in effect making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. I should not paraphrase it, but when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. When we go to war, we want an uncommonly able general. You get the picture. The advances in society were brought about not by common, but by
Richard its taken actually from the title of a relatively famous hoover speech about the uncommon man. If you remember, Vice President henry wallace, who was the second of fdrs Vice President s, gave a famous speech in 1942, i believe, maybe 1943, about the century of the common man. And wallace, from a left of center perspective, was projecting, in effect, the goals and ambitions of the generation that was fighting world war ii. It wasnt enough simply to defeat the nazis, but to create at home a true democracy, a place where the common man would finally come into his own. And hoover approached this from a different place on the political spectrum. He was in effect making the case for what we might call a meritocracy. Some of these things, i should not paraphrase it, but when you get sick, you want an uncommonly skillful doctor. When we go to war, we want an uncommonly able general. You get the picture. The advances in society were brought about not by common, but by uncommon individua