Searching for Reinhold Niebuhr

Ever since President Obama named Reinhold Niebuhr as his favorite philosopher, this mid-20th century public intellectual has been much invoked by pundits and columnists, especially in relation to the president's Nobel acceptance speech defending war as a tool for building peace. Here Drew Christiansen, S.J., argues that a closer examination of Niebuhr's entire career reveals not just a foreign policy realist but a skeptical critic of American exceptionalism. Father Christiansen recommends thesebooks for a fuller understanding of Niebuhr's career, as well as a biography by Richard Wightman Fox. To read the article by David Cortright mentioned during the podcast, click here.