Henry Steele Commager
Prolific liberal historian and public intellectual
Henry Steele Commager (October 25, 1902 – March 2, 1998) was an American historian. As one of the most active and prolific liberal intellectuals of his time, with 40 books and 700 essays and reviews, he helped define modern liberalism in the United States. Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Chicago after his mother’s death, Commager earned his degrees in history from the University of Chicago, including a doctorate in 1928. His early research focused on Danish history, but under the influence of mentors Andrew C. McLaughlin and Marcus W. Jernegan, he shifted to American history. He taught at New York University, Columbia University, and finally Amherst College, where he remained until 1992. Commager insisted that historians should write for a broad public, not only for academics. His first major book was a 1936 biography of the abolitionist Theodore Parker. He is best known for his intellectual history *The American Mind* (1950), which traced the evolution of liberal thought from the 1880s to the 1940s, and *The Empire of Reason* (1977), examining how America realized Enlightenment ideals. He also wrote on constitutional history, notably arguing in 1943 for limits on judicial review of economic legislation, though he later supported the Warren Court’s use of that power to protect civil liberties. Commager co-authored the influential textbook *The Growth of the American Republic* with Samuel Eliot Morison and edited the enduring primary-source collection *Documents of American History*, which saw ten editions over five decades. Politically active, he campaigned against McCarthyism in the 1940s and 1950s, organized academic support for Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy, and later opposed the Vietnam War while criticizing presidents Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan for what he saw as abuses of executive power.
- born
- October 25, 1902, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- died
- March 2, 1998, Amherst, Massachusetts
- field
- American history, intellectual and cultural history
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Campaigns against McCarthyism; intellectual history The American Mind; editing Documents of American History
Lore & Background
Commager was born Henry Irving Commager on October 25, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned degrees in history from the University of Chicago: Bachelor of Philosophy (1923), Master of Arts (1924), and Doctor of Philosophy (1928). He taught at New York University from 1926 to 1939, at Columbia University from 1939 to 1956, and at Amherst College from 1956 to 1992. He retired in 1992 from the John Woodruff Simpson Lectureship. He died of pneumonia at age 95 on March 2, 1998, in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Reader's Guide
Commager's principal scholarly works include his 1936 biography of Theodore Parker; his intellectual history The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880s (1950); and his intellectual history Empire of Reason: How Europe Imagined and America Realized the Enlightenment (1977). He edited Documents of American History, which reached its tenth edition in 1988. He coauthored The Growth of the American Republic with Samuel Eliot Morison. He opposed McCarthyism, the Vietnam War, and what he viewed as abuses of presidential power by Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.
Did You Know?
- Commager's PhD dissertation was on the Danish philosopher Johann Friedrich Struensee.
- He married Evan Alexa Carroll in 1928; after her death in 1968, he married Mary Powlesland in 1979.
- He mentored historians including Harold Hyman, Leonard W. Levy, and William E. Leuchtenburg.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Henry Steele Commager (25 October 1902 – 2 March 1998) was an American historian and teacher." — Henry Steele Commager "The greatest danger that threatens us is neither heterodox thought nor orthodox thought, but the absence of thought." — Henry Steele Commager "The Bill of Rights was not written to protect governments from trouble. It was written precisely to give the people the constitutional means to cause trouble for governments they no longer trusted." — Henry Steele Commager "The American people have a stake in the maintenance of the most thorough-going inquisition into American institutions. They have a stake in nonconformity, for they know that the American genius is nonconformist." — Henry Steele Commager
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