Drift and Mastery - (Forerunners) by Walter Lippmann (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In Drift and Mastery, a twenty-five-year-old Walter Lippmann surveyed what he saw as the chaos of newly industrial America and dreamed of a bold new future. Published in 1914, at the height of the Progressive Era, this audacious manifesto diagnosed the spiritual and political confusion of a nation grappling with unbridled capitalism, mass immigration, and the collapse of old certainties. Rejecting the sentimental populism of William Jennings Bryan and the moralizing of Woodrow Wilson, Lippmann embraced Theodore Roosevelt's "New Nationalism," envisioning a society led not by profiteers but by trained experts--scientists, managers, and professionals working for the common good.

More than a period piece, Drift and Mastery is striking in its embrace of centralized knowledge, its optimism about reform, and its blind spots about power. Nicholas Lemann's incisive introduction places the book alongside the contemporary work of thinkers like John Dewey and W. E. B. Du Bois while highlighting its relevance in an age of populist backlash and elite mistrust. Lippmann's flawed but fearless vision challenges us to rethink democratic leadership today.