Today politicians and intellectuals of all stripes like to claim that they are the true heirs of Abraham Lincoln. It was no different for America’s original Progressives, who claimed the authority of Lincoln for their program to remake American government. But was Lincoln truly a source for progressivism, then and now? Hillsdale College Professor of Politics Ronald J. Pestritto answered this question, looking at the works of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson.

Co-sponsored with the UCCS Department of Political Science and The Vanguard School.

About the Speaker

Ronald J. Pestritto is dean of the Graduate School of Statesmanship and professor of politics at Hillsdale College, where he teaches political philosophy. He serves as a senior fellow of the College’s Kirby Center and is also a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute. He earned his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Pestritto is the author of Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism, the editor of Woodrow Wilson: The Essential Political Writings, and the co-editor of American Progressivism: A Reader.