# Walter Russell Mead- anyone read? (pertinent Trump & conservative info)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-russell-mead-anyone-read-pertinent-trump-conservative-info/828282>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 23, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-russell-mead-anyone-read-pertinent-trump-conservative-info/828282 "2019-01-23T18:06:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-russell-mead-anyone-read-pertinent-trump-conservative-info/828282/1 "2019-01-23T18:06:48Z")

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Walter Russell Mead is a respectable scholar, historian and foreign policy expert.

I first readzthis article about the “Jacksonian” tradition in American culture and political life about 15 years ago, and it really struck home then- this absolutely described the world in which I grew up- my parents, grandparents, other relatives, friends’ parents, etc… all fell in this Jacksonian America that Mead refers to.

[Article 1](http://www3.amherst.edu/~pmachala/Current%20Politics/Case%20Studies%20in%20American%20Diplomacy%20-The%20Readings%20FOR%20the%20FIRST%20and%20SECOND%20Class/Mead,%20The%20Jacksonian%20Tradition.htm) (sorry, I can’t find a better formatted one online)

Then, a couple of years ago, he started writing articles concerning this tradition and the election of Trump, and what it means, why it happened, etc… along with the expected articles on foreign policy (his main focus) Here are a few I found fascinating:

> **[Andrew Jackson, Revenant - The American Interest](https://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/01/17/andrew-jackson-revenant/)**
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> The biggest story in America today is the roaring return of Andrew Jackson's spirit into the political debate.

[The Big Shift](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2018-04-16/big-shift) (requires free registration)

> **[The Jacksonian Revolt](https://www.hudson.org/domestic-policy/the-jacksonian-revolt)**
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> For the first time in 70 years, the American people have elected a president who disparages the policies, ideas, and institutions at the heart of postwar U.S. foreign policy.

I don’t know if I agree with everything, especially not his affection for Trump’s foreign policy, but they’re well thought out and thought-provoking when talking about the American people.

What do you think? I think in many ways he’s spot on, and well worth reading in order to understand the Trump base and that particular force in US politics, social life and foreign policy.

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-russell-mead-anyone-read-pertinent-trump-conservative-info/828282/2 "2019-01-24T01:54:39Z")

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Who are the “Jacksonians” today?

The author suggests they are distinct from evangelicals and other conservatives and lack political power.

So who are they? What political group today are these Jacksonians?

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walter-russell-mead-anyone-read-pertinent-trump-conservative-info/828282/3 "2019-01-28T17:54:12Z")

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Read the first essay (“The Jacksonian Tradition”)- it’s a foreign policy essay, but it describes the “Jacksonians”, where they come from, what they believe, and how that affects US foreign policy.

Then once that’s under your belt, you can read his other articles about how that same group elected Trump and why, but that first one is pretty powerfully descriptive of that particular set of Americans thinks.