Harry Victor Jaffa (October 7, 1918 – January 10, 2015) was an American political philosopher, historian, columnist, and professor. He was a professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University, and a distinguished fellow of the

Claremont Institute The Claremont Institute is a conservative think tank based in Upland, California. The institute was founded in 1979 by four students of Harry V. Jaffa. It produces the ''Claremont Review of Books,'' ''The American Mind'', and other publications. ...

. Robert P. Kraynak says his "life work was to develop an American application of Leo Strauss's revival of natural-right philosophy against the relativism and nihilism of our times". Jaffa wrote on topics ranging from

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, Winston Churchill, and

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

. He has been published in the ''

Claremont Review of Books The ''Claremont Review of Books'' (''CRB'') is a quarterly review of politics and statesmanship published by the conservative Claremont Institute. A typical issue consists of several book reviews and a selection of essays on topics of conservati ...

'', the ''Review of Politics'', ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

'', and the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. His most famous work, ''Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates'', written in 1959, has been described as "the greatest Lincoln book ever". Jaffa was a formative influence on the American

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

movement, challenging notable conservative thinkers, including

Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...

Richard M. Weaver Richard Malcolm Weaver, Jr (March 3, 1910 – April 1, 1963) was an American scholar who taught English at the University of Chicago. He is primarily known as an intellectual historian, political philosopher, and a mid-20th century conservative ...

, and Willmoore Kendall, on Abraham Lincoln and the founding of the United States. He debated

Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...

on American

constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...

. He died in 2015.

Early life and education

Jaffa was born in New York City on October 7, 1918, to Arthur Solomon Jaffa and Frances Landau Jaffa; his middle name is a reference to World War I, which ended with the same year he was born. His family was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in English literature from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in political philosophy from

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSS ...

. As a PhD student, he became interested in Abraham Lincoln after discovering a copy of the Lincoln–Douglas debates in a used bookshop. Jaffa was one of Leo Strauss' first PhD students. His dissertation on

and

later became his first book, ''Thomism and Aristotelianism''. There, he argues that the Christian beliefs of Aquinas influenced Aquinas' work on Aristotle. Alasdair MacIntyre describes the book as "an unduly neglected minor modern classic."

Career

Jaffa taught at Ohio State from 1951 through 1964, before moving to Claremont.

Founding of the United States

Jaffa believed the American founders, including

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

, and

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

established the nation on political principles traceable from Locke to Aristotle. While he believed that governments are instituted to protect rights, he acknowledged the higher ends they serve, primarily happiness. The

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

says Jaffa points out that safety and happiness are the principal virtues of Aristotelian political life in his ''Politics''. Jaffa also points to Federalist No. 43, in which

declares that safety and happiness are the aims of all political institutions, and George Washington's first inaugural address as cementing the link between human happiness and government and therefore the ancient roots of the American founding.

Abraham Lincoln scholarship

Jaffa wrote two books dealing exclusively with

. His first, ''Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates,'' was written in 1959. Forty years later, he followed it with ''A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War.'' Jaffa has also written a number of essays on Lincoln for the

, National Review, and other scholarly journals. Before Jaffa, most conservative scholars, including M. E. Bradford,

, and Willmoore Kendall believed that Lincoln's presidency represented a substantial growth in federal power and limitation on

individual rights Group rights, also known as collective rights, are rights held by a group '' qua'' a group rather than individually by its members; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people; even if they are group-differentiated, which ...

. Jaffa also believed that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution share a relationship whereby the latter is intended to preserve the principles of the former. This belief has garnered criticism from legal scholars, particularly

''Crisis of the House Divided''

In ''Crisis of the House Divided'', Jaffa discusses the Lincoln–Douglas debates that occurred on the eve of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. During the 1850s, concern over the spread of slavery into the territories and into the free states became the primary concern of American politics.

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

proposed the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which removed congressional authority over slavery's expansion into the territories and allowed the citizens of each territory to decide whether or not slavery would be legal there. In contrast, Lincoln believed that popular sovereignty was another example of tyranny of the majority. Lincoln argued that a majority could not sanction the enslavement of other men due to the Founding principle that "All men are created equal," which slavery violated. Both men squared off in a contest for Illinois' Senate seat in 1858. In the book, Jaffa explains the philosophical underpinnings of both Lincoln and Douglas' arguments. According to Catherine H. Zuckert, Jaffa "aimed at nothing less than bringing to bear on America the methods and substance of the Straussian revival of the Socratic tradition of political philosophy." Like Strauss, Jaffa observed the tendency of modernity to degenerate moral and political philosophy, which he found in Douglas' appeal to popular sovereignty. Jaffa also believed that Lincoln challenged Douglas' argument with an Aristotelian or classical philosophical position derived from the

and its contention that "all men are created equal."

''A New Birth of Freedom''

''A New Birth of Freedom'' was to be the first of a projected two-volume commentary on the

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the ...

. The first volume focuses on Lincoln's First Inaugural Address and his July 4, 1861, address to Congress. Jaffa argues that the Gettysburg Address is not a self-contained work but "a speech within a drama. It can no more be interpreted apart from the drama than, let us say, a speech by Hamlet or MacBeth can be interpreted apart from Hamlet or MacBeth. The Gettysburg Address is a speech within the tragedy of the Civil War, even as Lincoln is its tragic hero. The Civil War is itself an outcome of tragic flaws—birthmarks, so to speak—of the infant nation." Jaffa describes human equality as America's "ancient faith" and contends that the Declaration of Independence reflects the principles of

. According to Jaffa, Lincoln's task was to restore America's political faith, saving the Union from the

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely ...

of the Confederacy. Jaffa considers the political philosophy of John C. Calhoun the backbone of the Confederacy's new constitution and its notion of human inequality. According to him, Calhoun believed that equality was only a prescriptive attribute on the part of the states, not a natural right of human persons. By extension, Calhoun believes that human equality is derived from the relationship between equal states and not equal persons. Jaffa therefore believes that Calhoun's understanding of equality differs greatly from the American founders.

Debating Lincoln

Jaffa has debated many

and libertarian critics of Abraham Lincoln. In the mid-1960s, he argued for Lincoln's conservative legacy in the pages of ''National Review'' with Frank Meyer, who maintained that Lincoln opened the door to unlimited expansion of federal power. In his book, ''Storm Over the Constitution'' (1999), he formulated a theory of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...

, incorporating the

. The theory was criticized for being overly philosophical, rather than legal, despite being presented as a legal argument. His approach was especially critical of figures such as

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

and

, who responded to Jaffa in ''National Review''. Jaffa has also criticized the scholarship of other prominent conservatives including

, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, and Willmoore Kendall. Most recently, Jaffa debated libertarian author

Thomas DiLorenzo Thomas James DiLorenzo (; born August 8, 1954) identifies as an adherent of the Austrian School of economics. He is a research fellow at The Independent Institute, a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute,Faculty Directoryan, ''accessed ...

Debate with Thomas DiLorenzo

Jaffa and

debated each other on May 7, 2002, in an event hosted by the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has more ...

. Each man made a statement followed by a rebuttal by the other, ending with questions and answers from the audience. Jaffa's argument was divided into four sections: * The South Was a Closed Society: For the 1860 Presidential Election, in 10 of the 11 states that became the

Confederate States The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, Lincoln was not on the ballot, denying him at least the 100,000 votes of those who later went north to join the Union Army, possibly more. Jaffa points out that in the Cooper Union Address, Lincoln concluded that the South would be satisfied only if all anti-slavery sentiment was removed from the state constitutions in the eight free states that had laws preventing free blacks from being kidnapped as slaves. The man accused of being a slave could summon no witnesses, and had no counsel. Jaffa said that "if the federal commissioner decided he was a slave, he he commissionerwas paid $10, and if he decided he was a free man, he was paid $5. It's hard to imagine any law passed in either Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia that was more inconsistent with the principles of civil liberty than the Fugitive Slave Act." * The Right of Secession Is Not the Right of Revolution: Jaffa distinguished revolution from secession. Revolution, he argues, is explained under the Declaration of Independence. It states, "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends he security of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness the people have a right to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government

uch Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexan ...

as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." In contrast, the Confederacy claimed the right of secession, as the Confederacy believed that such a right existed under the Constitution. Jaffa argues that the Confederacy claimed secession instead of revolution because its rights were not being violated by the federal government. However, he also notes that the states that ratified the Constitution also agreed to adhere to the results of all elections and that by seceding from the Union, the Confederacy violated this basic promise. * Prelude to Southern Secession: Jaffa believed that the initial act of secession took place at the 1860 Democratic Convention. According to him, the seven states of the Deep South, the same seven states that seceded after Lincoln's election and before his inauguration, demanded as a plank in the Democratic platform, without which they would not support Douglas, a slave code for the territories. When the Convention refused to grant this demand, the delegates of the seven states left the convention. In this section of the debate, Jaffa points out that slavery was aggressively expanding with the repeal of the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...

by the

Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...

. Also, the

Dred Scott case ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; t ...

allowed slave owners to take slaves into the territories and demand Federal government protection for slavery in those areas. Jaffa claims that this was one of the largest expansions of federal power. * The Lincoln–Douglas Debates: Jaffa argued that Douglas accepted the Dred Scott decision. There, Chief Justice Taney said that the right to own slaves is expressly affirmed in the Constitution. However, Lincoln said in the debates that it was implied but not expressly affirmed. Lincoln said to Douglas that by accepting Taney's opinion that slavery is expressly affirmed in the Constitution, one is under an obligation to give the slave owners the implementation of this right. The possibilities for the expansion of slavery were almost endless, according to Jaffa. Because Douglas would not subscribe to the slave code, the South left the party, which was enough to elect Abraham Lincoln.

Criticism of Robert Bork

Jaffa argues that former Supreme Court nominee

advances a theory of American

that is in fundamental tension with the principles of the

, and that was insufficiently conservative. Jaffa argued that Bork's argument represents

legal positivism Legal positivism (as understood in the Anglosphere) is a school of thought of analytical jurisprudence developed largely by legal philosophers during the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Jeremy Bentham and John Austin. While Bentham and Austin de ...

and moral relativism akin to that expressed by John C. Calhoun and the Confederacy during the Civil War. According to Jaffa, Bork believed that the Constitution and the Declaration are separate documents that were never intended to inform one another. Bork argued that the Constitution said nothing about

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

or gay rights. Jaffa believed that the Constitution followed

principles, and therefore ''prohibited'' states from protecting abortion or homosexuality. Bork replied that Jaffa's theories amounted to "the heart's desire theory of constitutional jurisprudence: Anything one does not like is in the Constitution", and that those who agreed with him "had much in common with Harry Blackmun, although neither would care to admit it."

''National Review''

Jaffa was close friends with

William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

, publishing a number of articles on Lincoln in ''

'' throughout his career. He credits Buckley with allowing him to publish when he had been blacklisted by

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

journals and

neoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...

publications after a dispute with

Irving Kristol Irving Kristol (; January 22, 1920 – September 18, 2009) was an American journalist who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism". As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual ...

. However, Jaffa disagreed with many of the writers then publishing for the magazine including

and Frank Meyer. According to him, these men and other writers there rejected the principles of the

and its main contention that "all men are created equal." Jaffa spent his lifetime stressing the importance of the Declaration to conservatives and liberals alike.

Barry Goldwater campaign

During the 1964 presidential campaign, Jaffa, who was serving as a speechwriter to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate Barry Goldwater, penned the line, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is not a virtue" in his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination. Although Goldwater claimed repeatedly that the line originated in a speech by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, it appears nowhere in Cicero's works, and was in fact authored by Jaffa.

Death

Jaffa died at Pomona Valley Hospital on January 10, 2015, the same day as his fellow Straussian and rival

Walter Berns Walter Berns (May 3, 1919 – January 10, 2015) was an American constitutional law and political philosophy professor. He was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor emeritus at Georgetown University. Early life an ...

Personal life

Jaffa married Marjorie Butler in 1942; she died in 2010. They had three children, Donald, Philip, and Karen.

Bibliography

Books

* '' Thomism and Aristotelianism: A Study of the Commentary by Thomas Aquinas on the Nicomachean Ethics'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952).
''Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates''
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959).
''How to Think about the American Revolution: A Bicentennial Cerebration''
(Carolina Academic Press, 1978). * ''Original Intent & the Framers of the Constitution'', (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1994). * ''Shakespeare's Politics'', ed. by Harry V. Jaffa and Allan Bloom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). * ''Storm Over the Constitution'', (Lanham: Lexington Books, 1999).
''A New Birth of Freedom''
(Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000). * ''The Rediscovery of America'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019)

Articles

"The Ends of History Means the End of Freedom"
January 17, 1990.
"Clarifying Homosexuality and Natural Law"
January 1, 1991.
"A Review of Richard Mohr's Book"
February 1, 1991.
"A Reply to Philip Dynia"
August 19, 1993.
"Defending the Cause of Human Freedom"
April 15, 1994.
"Defending the Cause of Human Freedom"
April 15, 1994.
"The Party of Lincoln vs. The Party of Bureaucrats"
September 13, 1996.
"How Lincoln Foresaw the End of Slavery"
January 29, 1998.
"Leo Strauss, the Bible, and Political Philosophy"
February 13, 1998.
"The False Prophets of American Conservatism"
February 12, 1998.
"The Deepening Crisis"
February 9, 1999.
"Why Special Interests and the Constitution are Good For You"
February 20, 2000.
"Thoughts on Lincoln's Birthday"
January 22, 2001.
"Campaign Reform is Unconstitutional No Matter What McCain May Claim"
February 1, 2001.
"Aristotle and Locke in the American Founding"
February 10, 2001.
"American Conservatism and the Present Crisis"
February 12, 2003.
"Strauss at 100"
May 14, 2003.
"Can There Be Another Winston Churchill?"
February 6, 2004.
"Never Before In History"
July 2, 2004.
"Ignoble Liars and Noble Truth-Tellers"
August 17, 2004.
"Wages of Sin"
October 11, 2004.
"The Logic of the Colorblind Constitution"
December 6, 2004.
"Jaffa on Intelligent Design"
January 3, 2006.
"The Disputed Question"
January 9, 2007.
"The American Founding as the Best Regime"
July 4, 2007.
"Macbeth and the Moral Universe"
February 19, 2008.
"The Soul of Buckley"
April 4, 2008.
"God Bless America
"Claremont Review of Books," Spring 2008.
"The Speech That Changed the World"
February 6, 2009.
"Lincoln In Peoria"
Fall 2009.

July 1, 2011.

References

External links

* Knopff, Rainer
"Walter Berns (1919-2015) and Harry Jaffa (1918-2015): A Canadian's Appreciation."
(2015)
Writings of Harry V. Jaffa
at the ''

'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffa, Harry Victor 1918 births 2015 deaths American historians American people of Polish-Jewish descent American political philosophers Jewish American historians California Republicans Claremont McKenna College faculty Political scientists who studied under Leo Strauss New Right (United States) Historians of Abraham Lincoln