Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, coining the term " stereotype" in the modern psychological meaning, as well as critiquing media and democracy in his newspaper column and several books, most notably his 1922 book ''

Public Opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

''. Lippmann also played a notable role in

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

board of inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...

, as its research director. His views regarding the role of journalism in a democracy were contrasted with the contemporaneous writings of

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

in what has been retrospectively named the Lippmann-Dewey debate. Lippmann won two

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

s, one for his syndicated

newspaper column A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, where a writer expresses their own opinion in few columns allotted to them by the newspaper organisation. Columns are written by columnists. What differe ...

"Today and Tomorrow" and one for his 1961 interview of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. He has also been highly praised with titles ranging anywhere from "most influential" journalist of the 20th century, to "Father of Modern Journalism".

Michael Schudson Michael S. Schudson Michael S. Schudson (born November 3, 1946) is professor of journalism in the graduate school of journalism of Columbia University and adjunct professor in the department of sociology. He is professor emeritus at the Univers ...

writes that James W. Carey considered Walter Lippmann's book ''Public Opinion'' as "the founding book of modern journalism" and also "the founding book in American media studies".

Early life

Lippmann was born on New York's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

as the only child of Jewish parents of German origin. He grew up, according to his biographer

Ronald Steel Ronald Lewis Steel (born March 25, 1931) is an American writer, historian, and professor. He is the author of the definitive biography of Walter Lippmann. Biography Ronald Steel was born in 1931 in Morris, Illinois outside of Chicago. He earn ...

, in a "gilded Jewish ghetto". His father Jacob Lippmann was a rentier who had become wealthy through his father's textile business and his father-in-law's real estate speculation. His mother, Daisy Baum cultivated contacts in the highest circles, and regularly spent their summer holidays in Europe. The family had a

reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

orientation; averse to "orientalism", they attended Temple Emanu-El. Walter had his reform Jewish

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

instead of the traditional Bar Mitzvah at the age of 14. Lippmann was emotionally distanced from both parents, but had closer ties to his maternal grandmother. The political orientation of the family was Republican. From 1896 Lippmann attended the Sachs School for Boys, followed by the

Sachs Collegiate Institute Dwight School is an independent college preparatory school located on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Dwight offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum to students ages two through grade twelve. History Founded in 1872 by Julius Sachs as ...

, an elitist and strictly secular private school in the German Gymnasium tradition, attended primarily by children of German-Jewish families and run by the classical philologist Dr. Julius Sachs, a son-in-law of

Marcus Goldman Marcus Goldman (born Marcus Goldmann; December 9, 1821 – July 20, 1904) was a Jewish American investment banker, businessman, and financier. He was the founder of Goldman Sachs, which has since become one of the world's largest investment b ...

n from the Goldman-Sachs family. Classes included 11 hours of ancient Greek and 5 hours of Latin per week. Shortly before his 17th birthday, he entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where he wrote for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' and studied in person under

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

, and

Graham Wallas Graham Wallas (31 May 1858 – 9 August 1932) was an English socialist, social psychologist, educationalist, a leader of the Fabian Society and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Biography Born in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, Wall ...

, concentrating upon philosophy, and languages (he spoke German and French). He took only one course in history and one in government. He was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

society, but important social clubs rejected Jews as members. Lippmann became a member, alongside

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

, of the New York Socialist Party. In 1911, Lippmann served as secretary to

George R. Lunn George Richard Lunn (June 23, 1873 – November 27, 1948) was an American clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the state of New York, a U.S. Representative from 1917 to 1919, and Lieutenant Governor from ...

, the first Socialist mayor of

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, during Lunn's first term. Lippmann resigned his post after four months, finding Lunn's programs to be worthwhile in and of themselves, but inadequate as Socialism.

Career

Lippmann was a journalist, a media critic and an amateur philosopher who tried to reconcile the tensions between liberty and democracy in a complex and modern world, as in his 1920 book ''Liberty and the News''. In 1913, Lippmann,

Herbert Croly Herbert David Croly (January 23, 1869 – May 17, 1930) was an intellectual leader of the progressive movement as an editor, political philosopher and a co-founder of the magazine ''The New Republic'' in early twentieth-century America. His pol ...

, and

Walter Weyl Walter Edward Weyl (March 11, 1873 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 9, 1919 in Woodstock, New York) was a writer and speaker, an intellectual leader of the Progressive movement in the United States. As a strong nationalist, his goal was ...

became the founding editors of ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

''. During the war, Lippmann was commissioned a captain in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

on June 28, 1918, and was assigned to the

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

section of the AEF headquarters in France. He was assigned to the staff of

Edward M. House Edward Mandell House (July 26, 1858 – March 28, 1938) was an American diplomat, and an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. He was known as Colonel House, although his rank was honorary and he had performed no military service. He was a highl ...

in October and attached to the American Commission to negotiate peace in December. He returned to the United States in February 1919 and was immediately discharged. Through his connection to House, Lippmann became an adviser to Wilson and assisted in the drafting of Wilson's

Fourteen Points U.S. President Woodrow Wilson The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms ...

speech. He sharply criticized

George Creel George Edward Creel (December 1, 1876 – October 2, 1953) was an American investigative journalist and writer, a politician and government official. He served as the head of the United States Committee on Public Information, a propaganda organ ...

, whom the President appointed to head wartime propaganda efforts at the

Committee on Public Information The Committee on Public Information (1917–1919), also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States under the Wilson administration created to influence public opinion to support the ...

. While he was prepared to curb his liberal instincts because of the war, saying he had "no doctrinaire belief in

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

," he nonetheless advised Wilson that

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

should "never be entrusted to anyone who is not himself tolerant, nor to anyone who is unacquainted with the long record of folly which is the history of suppression." Lippmann examined the coverage of newspapers and saw many inaccuracies and other problems. He and

Charles Merz Charles Hesterman Merz (5 October 1874 – 14 or 15 October 1940) was a British electrical engineer who pioneered the use of high-voltage three-phase AC power distribution in the United Kingdom, building a system in the North East of England ...

, in a 1920 study entitled ''

A Test of the News ''A Test of the News'' is a study of the objectivity and neutrality of press coverage, written by Walter Lippmann and Charles Merz, later editor of ''The New York Times''. It was prepared with the assistance of Faye Albertson Lippmann, Lippmann's fi ...

'', stated that ''

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 ...

coverage of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...

was biased and inaccurate. In addition to his newspaper column "Today and Tomorrow", he wrote several books. Lippmann was the first to bring the phrase "

cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

" to a common currency, in his 1947 book by the same name. It was Lippmann who first identified the tendency of journalists to generalize about other people based on fixed ideas. He argued that people, including journalists, are more apt to believe "the pictures in their heads" than to come to judgment by critical thinking. Humans condense ideas into symbols, he wrote, and journalism, a force quickly becoming the mass media, is an ineffective method of educating the public. Even if journalists did better jobs of informing the public about important issues, Lippmann believed "the mass of the reading public is not interested in learning and assimilating the results of accurate investigation." Citizens, he wrote, were too self-centered to care about public policy except as pertaining to pressing local issues.

Later life

After the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire o ...

, Lippmann authored an influential ''Washington Post'' column that criticized empire and called on western nations to "identify their cause with the freedom and security of the peoples of the East" and purging themselves of "white man's

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

". Following the removal from office of Secretary of Commerce (and former

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

) Henry A. Wallace in September 1946, Lippmann became the leading public advocate of the need to respect a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal al ...

in Europe, as opposed to the containment strategy being advocated at the time by

George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...

. Lippmann was an informal adviser to several presidents. On September 14, 1964, President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

presented Lippmann with the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

. He later had a rather famous feud with Johnson over his handling of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

of which Lippmann had become highly critical. He won a special Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1958, as a nationally syndicated columnist, citing "the wisdom, perception and high sense of responsibility with which he has commented for many years on national and international affairs.""Special Awards and Citations"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-01. Four years later he won the annual

Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...

citing "his 1961 interview with Soviet Premier Khrushchev, as illustrative of Lippmann's long and distinguished contribution to American journalism.""International Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-01. Lippmann retired from his syndicated column in 1967. Lippmann died in New York City due to cardiac arrest in 1974. He was mentioned in the monologue before Phil Ochs' recording of "The Marines Have Landed on the Shores of Santo Domingo" on the 1966 album ''

Phil Ochs in Concert ''Phil Ochs in Concert'' is Phil Ochs' third long player, released in 1966 on Elektra Records. Despite its title, it was not entirely live, as several tracks were actually recorded in the studio, owing to flaws in the live recordings made in Bost ...

''.

Journalism

Though a journalist himself, Lippmann did not assume that

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

and

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...

are synonymous. For Lippmann, the "function of news is to signalize an event, the function of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts, to set them in relation with each other, and make a picture of reality on which men can act." A journalist's version of the truth is subjective and limited to how they construct their reality. The news, therefore, is "imperfectly recorded" and too fragile to bear the charge as "an organ of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

." To Lippmann, democratic ideals had deteriorated: voters were largely ignorant about issues and policies and lacked the competence to participate in public life and cared little for participating in the political process. In ''

'' (1922), Lippmann noted that modern realities threatened the stability that the government had achieved during the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

era of the 19th century. He wrote that a " governing class" must rise to face the new challenges. The basic problem of democracy, he wrote, was the accuracy of news and

protection of sources Source protection, sometimes also referred to as source confidentiality or in the U.S. as the reporter's privilege, is a right accorded to journalists under the laws of many countries, as well as under international law. It prohibits authorities, i ...

. He argued that distorted information was inherent in the human mind. People make up their minds before they define the facts, while the ideal would be to gather and analyze the facts before reaching conclusions. By seeing first, he argued, it is possible to sanitize polluted information. Lippmann argued that interpretation as stereotypes (a word which he coined in that specific meaning) subjected us to partial truths. Lippmann called the notion of a public competent to direct public affairs a "false ideal." He compared the political savvy of an average man to a theater-goer walking into a play in the middle of the third act and leaving before the last curtain.

in his book '' The Public and Its Problems'', published in 1927, agreed about the irrationality of public opinion, but he rejected Lippman's call for a

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

elite. Dewey believed that in a democracy, the public is also part of the public discourse. The Lippman-Dewey Debate, which started to be widely discussed by the late 1980s in American communication studies circles, discuss the merits of Lippman and Dewey opinions. Lippmann also figured prominently in the work ''

Manufacturing Consent ''Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media'' is a 1988 book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. It argues that the mass communication media of the U.S. "are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out ...

'' by

Edward S. Herman Edward Samuel Herman (April 7, 1925 – November 11, 2017) was an American economist, media scholar and social critic. Herman is known for his media criticism, in particular the propaganda model hypothesis he developed with Noam Chomsky, a fr ...

and

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

who cited Lippmann's advocacy of "manufacture of consent" which referred "to the management of public opinion, which ippmannfelt was necessary for democracy to flourish, since he felt that public opinion was an irrational force."

Remarks about Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1932, Lippmann infamously dismissed future President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's qualifications and demeanor, writing: "Franklin D. Roosevelt is no crusader. He is no tribune of the people. He is no enemy of entrenched privilege. He is a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be President." Despite Roosevelt's later accomplishments, Lippmann stood by his words, saying: "That I will maintain to my dying day was true of the Franklin Roosevelt of 1932." He believed his judgment was an accurate summation of Roosevelt's 1932 campaign, saying it was "180 degrees opposite to the New Deal. The fact is that the New Deal was wholly improvised after Roosevelt was elected."

Mass culture

Lippmann coined the phrase "Great Society" in 1921 (Essay: "The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads") Lippmann was an early and influential commentator on mass culture, notable not for criticizing or rejecting mass culture entirely but discussing how it could be worked with by a government licensed "propaganda machine" to keep democracy functioning. In his first book on the subject, ''

'' (1922), Lippmann said that mass man functioned as a "bewildered herd" who must be governed by "a specialized class whose interests reach beyond the locality." The elite class of intellectuals and experts were to be a machinery of knowledge to circumvent the primary defect of democracy, the impossible ideal of the "omnicompetent citizen". This attitude was in line with contemporary capitalism, which was made stronger by greater consumption. Later, in ''

The Phantom Public ''The Phantom Public'' is a book published in 1925 by journalist Walter Lippmann in which he expresses his Criticism of democracy, lack of faith in the democratic system by arguing that the public exists merely as an illusion, myth, and inevitabl ...

'' (1925), Lippmann recognized that the class of experts were also, in most respects, outsiders to any particular problem, and hence not capable of effective action. Philosopher

(1859–1952) agreed with Lippmann's assertions that the modern world was becoming too complex for every citizen to grasp all its aspects, but Dewey, unlike Lippmann, believed that the public (a composite of many "publics" within society) could form a " Great Community" that could become educated about issues, come to judgments and arrive at solutions to societal problems. In 1943,

George Seldes Henry George Seldes ( ; November 16, 1890 – July 2, 1995) was an American investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, editor, author, and media critic best known for the publication of the newsletter ''In Fact'' from 1940 to 1950. He was a ...

described Lippmann as one of the two most influential columnists in the United States. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Lippmann became even more skeptical of the "guiding" class. In ''The Public Philosophy'' (1955), which took almost twenty years to complete, he presented a sophisticated argument that intellectual elites were undermining the framework of democracy. The book was very poorly received in liberal circles.

Legacy

The Walter Lippmann House at

, which houses the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, is named after him.

Almond–Lippmann consensus

Similarities between the views of Lippmann and

Gabriel Almond Gabriel Abraham Almond (January 12, 1911 – December 25, 2002) was an American political scientist best known for his pioneering work on comparative politics, political development, and political culture. Biography Almond was born on January 1 ...

produced what became known as the

Almond–Lippmann consensus Gabriel Abraham Almond (January 12, 1911 – December 25, 2002) was an American political science, political scientist best known for his pioneering work on comparative politics, political development, and political culture. Biography Almond was ...

, which is based on three assumptions: # Public opinion is volatile, shifting erratically in response to the most recent developments. Mass beliefs early in the 20th century were "too pacifist in peace and too bellicose in war, too neutralist or appeasing in negotiations or too intransigent" # Public opinion is incoherent, lacking an organised or a consistent structure to such an extent that the views of US citizens could best be described as "nonattitudes"Converse, Philip. 1964. "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics." In ''Ideology and Discontent,'' ed. David Apter, 206–61. New York: Free Press. # Public opinion is irrelevant to the policy-making process. Political leaders ignore public opinion because most Americans can neither "understand nor influence the very events upon which their lives and happiness are known to depend."Almond, Gabriel. 1950. ''The American People and Foreign Policy''. New York: Harcourt, Brace.Kris, Ernst, and Nathan Leites. 1947. "Trends in Twentieth Century Propaganda." In ''Psychoanalysis and the Social Sciences,'' ed. Geza Rheim, pp. 393–409. New York: International University Press.

Liberal/neoliberal debate

French philosopher

Louis Rougier Louis Auguste Paul Rougier (; 10 April 1889 – 14 October 1982) was a French philosopher. Rougier made many important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science, political philosophy and the history of Christianity. Early life Rougie ...

convened a meeting of primarily French and German

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 ...

intellectuals in Paris in August 1938 to discuss the ideas put forward by Lippmann in his work ''The Good Society'' (1937). They named the meeting after Lippmann, calling it the

Colloque Walter Lippmann The Colloque Walter Lippmann (English: Walter Lippmann Colloquium), was a conference of intellectuals organized in Paris in August 1938 by French philosopher Louis Rougier. After interest in classical liberalism had declined in the 1920s and 1930 ...

. The meeting is often considered the precursor to the first meeting of the

Mont Pèlerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals and business leaders.Michael Novak, 'The Moral Imperative of a Free Economy', in '' The 4% Solution: Unleashing the E ...

, convened by

Friedrich von Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Hayek ...

in 1947. At both meetings discussions centered around what a new liberalism, or "neoliberalism", should look like.

Private life

Lippmann was married twice, the first time from 1917 to 1937 to Faye Albertson (*23 March 1893 – 17 March 1975). Faye Albertson was the daughter of Ralph Albertson, a pastor of the Congregational Church. He was one of the pioneers of Christian socialism and the social gospel movement in the spirit of George Herron. During his studies at Harvard, Walter often visited the Albertsons' estate in West Newbury, Massachusetts, where they had founded a socialist cooperative, the (Cyrus Field) Willard Cooperative Colony. Faye Albertson married Jesse Heatley after the divorce in 1940. Lippmann was divorced by Faye Albertson to be able to marry Helen Byrne Armstrong in 1938 (died 16 February 1974), daughter of James Byrne. She divorced her husband

Hamilton Fish Armstrong Hamilton Fish Armstrong (April 7, 1893 – April 24, 1973) was an American diplomat and editor. Biography Armstrong attended Princeton University, then began a career in journalism at ''The New Republic''. During the First World War, he was ...

, the editor of ''Foreign Affairs.'' He was the only close friend in Lippmann's life. The friendship and involvement in ''Foreign Affairs'' ended when a hotel in Europe accidentally forwarded Lippmann's love letters to Mr. Armstrong. Steel, pp 342-366.

Bibliography

Articles

"The Campaign Against Sweating"
''

'', March 27, 1915.
"What Program Shall the United States Stand for in International Relations?"
''

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmo ...

'', Vol. 66, July 1916, pp. 60–70.
"The World Conflict in its Relation to American Democracy."
''

'', Vol. 72, July 1917, pp. 1–10. * "The Basic Problem of Democracy: What Liberty Means," ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Vol. 124, 1919, pp. 616. * "Liberty and the News," ''

'', Vol. 124, 1919, pp. 779.
"Democracy, Foreign Policy and the Split Personality of the Modern Statesman."
''

'', Vol. 102, July 1922, pp. 190–193.
"Today and Tomorrow."
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', February 12, 1942
Full text available

"A Talk With Mr. K."
November 10, 1958.
"Nearing the Brink in Vietnam."
''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', April 12, 1965, pp. 25–46.

Book reviews

Review of ''The Intimate Papers of Colonel House'' by Charles Seymour
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 4, No. 3, April 1926.

Essays

"The Basic Problem of Democracy."
November 1919, pp. 616–627. ::This essay later became the first chapter ''Liberty and the News''.
"Concerning Senator Borah."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 4, No. 2, January 1926, pp. 211–222.
"Vested Rights and Nationalism in Latin-America."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 5, No. 3, April 1927, pp. 353–363.
"Second Thoughts on Havana."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 6, No. 4, July 1928, pp. 541–554.
"Church and State in Mexico: The American Mediation."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 8, No. 2, January 1930. pp. 186–207.
"The London Naval Conference: An American View."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 8, No. 4, July 1930, pp. 499–518.
"Ten Years: Retrospect and Prospect."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 11, No. 1, October 1932, pp. 51–53.
"Self-Sufficiency: Some Random Reflections."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 12, No. 2, January 1934, pp. 207–217.
"Britain and America: The Prospects of Political Cooperation in the Light of Their Paramount Interests."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 13, No. 3, April 1936, pp. 363–372.
"Rough-Hew Them How We Will."
'' Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 15, No. 4, July 1937, pp. 586–594.
"The Cold War."
Foreign Affairs, Vol. 65, No. 4, Spring 1987, pp. 869–884.

Reports

"A Test of the News."
''

'', Vol. 23, No. 296, August 1920. 42 pages.

Books

''A Preface to Politics''

Mitchell Kennerley Mitchell Kennerley (August 14, 1878 – February 22, 1950) was an English born American publisher, editor, and gallery owner. Life He was born at Burslem, England. He was the manager of the New York branch of John Lane, the London publisher, f ...

, 1913.
Audiobook available
* '' Drift and Mastery''.

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and po ...

, 1914.
Full text available

''The Stakes of Diplomacy''
New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1915.
''The Political Scene''
New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1919.
''Liberty and the News''
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Howe, 1920. * ''

''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1922.
Audiobook available
* ''

''. Piscataway, NJ:

Transaction Publishers Transaction Publishers was a New Jersey-based publishing house that specialized in social science books and journals. It was located on the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University. Transaction was sold to Taylor & Francis in 2016 and merged wit ...

, 1925.
''Men of Destiny''
New York:

The Macmillan Company Macmillan Inc. is a defunct American book publishing company. Originally established as the American division of the British Macmillan Publishers, the two were later separated and acquired by other companies, with the remnants of the original A ...

, 1927.
Excerpts available
* ''American Inquisitors''. New York:

, 1928.
''A Preface to Morals''
London:

George Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

, 1929. * ''Interpretations, 1931-1932''. New York:

, 1932. * ''The United States in World Affair, 1931''. New York: Harper & Bros, 1932. * ''The United States in World Affairs, 1932''. New York: Harper & Bros, 1933. * ''The Method of Freedom''. New York:

, 1934.
''Interpretations, 1933-1935''
New York:

, 1936.
''The Good Society''
New York:

Atlantic Monthly Press Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "A ...

, 1937. * '' U.S. Foreign Policy: Shield of the Republic''. Boston:

, 1943. * ''U.S. War Aims''. Boston:

, 1944.
''The Cold War''
New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1947.
''The Public Philosophy''
with William O. Scroggs. New York:

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publish ...

, 1955.
''The Coming Tests With Russia''
Boston:

, 1961.

Pamphlets

* ''Notes on the Crisis'' (No. 5). New York: John Day, 1932. 28 pages. * ''A New Social Order'' (No. 25). John Day, 1933. 28 pages. * ''The New Imperative''. New York:

, 1935. 52 pages.

References

External links

Articles by Walter Lippmann
at ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''
Articles by Walter Lippmann
at '' Foreign Affairs''
Books by Walter Lippmann
at HathiTrust
Works by Walter Lippmann
at

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

* * *
Public Opinion (1922)
from American Studies at the University of Virginia. *
Walter Lippmann Papers (MS 326).
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Walter Lippmann, "The Mental Age of Americans", ''New Republic'' 32, no. 412 (October 25, 1922): 213–15; no. 413 (November 1, 1922): 246–48; no. 414 (November 8, 1922): 275–77; no. 415 (November 15, 1922): 297–98; no. 416 (November 22, 1922): 328–30; no. 417 (November 29, 1922): 9–11.

"Writings of Walter Lippmann"
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's '' American Writers: A Journey Through History''
The American Presidency Project – ''Remarks at the Presentation of the 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom Awards – September 14, 1964''

(1929) *
Robert O. Anthony Collection of Walter Lippmann (MS 766) – Yale University Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippmann, Walter 1889 births 1974 deaths American columnists American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers American male journalists American magazine editors American magazine founders American people of German-Jewish descent American political writers Harvard University alumni Jewish American writers The New Republic people Peabody Award winners Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Progressive Era in the United States Pulitzer Prize winners for journalism Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners Writers from New York City Member of the Mont Pelerin Society

Early life

Career

Later life

Journalism

Remarks about Franklin D. Roosevelt

Mass culture

Legacy

Almond–Lippmann consensus

Liberal/neoliberal debate

Private life

Bibliography

Articles

Book reviews

Essays

Reports

Books

Pamphlets

See also

References

Further reading

Articles

Books

Primary sources

External links