Herbert Croly
Herbert David Croly (January 23, 1869 - May 17, 1930) was a Progressive political author. He was born in New York City to Jane Cunningham Croly and David Goodman Croly. His mother wrote for the New York World and edited Demorest’s Monthly. His father was a reporter for the Herald and the New York World.
Herbert David Croly began studying at the City College of New York in 1884 and enrolled at Harvard in 1886, but left in June of 1888 without reciving a degree. In 1892 he married Louise Emory of Baltimore. He was editor of the Architectural Record from 1900 to 1913.
In 1909 his book, The Promise of American Life, was published. This book is said to "offer a manifesto of Progressive beliefs" which "anticipated the transition from competitive to corporate capitalism and from limited government to the welfare state".
The book, which discusses the historical evolution of American society, includes analysis of slavery and slave-holders, corporations and unions, centralization and democracy, and individual as well as national purpose. Croly recognized the changes being brought about by America's late-19th century industrialization and stated:
- It is new conditions which are forcing Americans to choose between the conception of their national Promise as a process and an ideal.
In 1914 he co-founded The New Republic with Walter Lippmann. The journal is still published today.
Croly's work influenced Theodore Roosevelt (who borrowed the "new nationalism" slogan), Woodrow Wilson, and the architects of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal; but, this progressive political theorist and journalist remains largely unrecognized. In 1985 historian David Levy published the first biography of Croly, Herbert Croly and the New Republic. The magazine he founded did not review his biography.
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