A Philosopher President?

By Guest Blogger Ryan Berg

Harvard historian and prominent intellectual James T. Kloppenberg spent the last two years of his research reading an impressive corpus of literature on President Obama.  Kloppenberg poured through Obama’s books; his essays; his speeches; every article published in the Harvard Law Review during Obama’s three years there; and even interviewed his former professors.  What is Kloppenberg’s theory after all his research? He posits Obama “is a true intellectual—a word that is frequently considered an epithet among populists with a robust suspicion of Ivy League elites.”