Walter Lippmann and the American Century — 2 Harvard ’10

1. 1. President Charles W. Eliot's free elective system at Harvard encouraged students to think and do as they pleased, fostering intellectual insurgency.
2. 2. Harvard's social clubs rejected Jews and those who did not 'fit,' leading Lippmann to drop out of the athletic circle and focus on intellectual pursuits.
3. 3. Lippmann immersed himself in modern social critics like Ibsen, Shaw, and Wells, memorizing passages and adopting their fervor for social reform.
4. 4. William James visited Lippmann unannounced to praise his article attacking Barrett Wendell, beginning a mentorship that included weekly tea sessions.
5. 5. James taught Lippmann meliorism—the belief that things can be improved but never perfected—and the discipline of writing a thousand words daily.
6. 6. Irving Babbitt's classical humanism challenged Lippmann's Rousseauian faith in the innate goodness of the people, arguing that democracy requires restraining majority power.
7. 7. George Santayana's neo-Platonic naturalism and emphasis on beauty and reason captivated Lippmann, steering him away from James's pragmatism.
8. 8. Lippmann wrote that Santayana's aloofness made him a spectator of life, a quality Lippmann recognized in himself: 'a man can't see the play and be in it too.'