Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

230 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

thesuburbs.Insomecases,asinthegreatmigrationtothebooming
automobilefactoriesinMichigan,whitesouthernersmovednorth,torub
elbowswithmorerecentimmigrantsfromEurope.Inothers,Okiesand
theirsuccessorsjourneyedtothepromisedlandofCalifornia,where,
withJewish,Catholic,andEasternOrthodoxrefugeesfromcoldclimates
and limitedupwardmobility, theybuilta newversionoftraditional
Americanpopularcultureandpolitics.Thesuburbanhomeownerwith
his orher federally subsidizedmortgage replacedthe homesteading
farmer(onfreefederalland)asthecentralpillarofAmericanpopulism.
RichardNixon,withhistwo-prongedappealtowhitesouthernersand
the"JoeSix-pack"votersofthenorth,wasthefirstnationalpoliticianto
recognizethepowerofthisnewlyenergizedcurrentinAmericanlife.
Urban,immigrantAmericamayhavesoftenedsomeoftherough
edgesofJacksonianAmerica,butthedescendantsofthegreatwaveof
European immigrationsoundmoreAnglo-Americanfrom decade to
decade.Ruggedfrontierindividualismhasprovedtobecontagious;each
generationdescended fromthegreatrurn-of-the-centuryimmigration
hasbeenmoreJacksonianthanitspredecessor.Thesocialandeconomic
solidaritysocharacteristicofEuropeanpeasantcommunitieshasbeen
overmasteredbytheindividualismofthefrontier.Thedescendantsof
Europeanworking-classMarxistsnowquoteAdamSmith;JoeSix-pack
thinksofthewelfarestateasanexpensiveburden,notpartofthenatural
moralorder.(MarySix-pack,likeJaneDoe,hasherdoubts.)Intellectuals
havemadethistransitionasthoroughlyasanyoneelse.Thechildrenand
grandchildrenoftrade unionistsandTrotskyists now talkabout the
importanceofliberalsocietyandfree markets;intheintellectualpil-
grimageofIrvingKristol,whatisusuallya multigenerationalprocess
hasbeencompressedintoa single,brilliantcareer.
TheresultisthatJacksonianvalueslooksettocontinuetoplayakey
roleinAmericanlife.RonaldReaganowedmuchofhispopularityand
successtohisabilitytoconnectwithJacksonianvalues.RossPerot,Jesse
Ventura,GeorgeWallace,PatBuchanan,andJohnMcCainindifferent
waysandtodifferentdegrees,havemanagedtotapintothepowerofthe
populistenergythatOldHickoryrodeinto theWhiteHouse.
ThenewJacksonianismisnolongerruralandexclusivelynativist.
FrontierJacksonianismmayhavetakenthehomesteadingfarmerand
thelogcabinas itsemblems;today'scrabgrassJacksonianismseesthe
homeowneronhismodestsuburbanlawnas theherooftheAmerican
story.ThecrabgrassJacksonianmayweargreenonSt.Patrick'sDay;he