Due to the amplified importance of forging an intimate connection
with the American public, modern presidents must adjust their
political personalities and leadership. To combat allegations of
elitism, recent Republican presidents have adopted
anti-intellectualism as a conservative form of populism.
Anti-intellectualism is defined as disparagement of the complexity
associated with intellectual pursuits, and a rejection of the
elitism and self-aware attitude of distinction that is commonly
associated with intellectual life. This article focuses on the
benefits and costs of anti-intellectualism as a strategic response
to the plebiscitary demands of contemporary presidential
politics.Colleen J. Shogan is a
member of the Affiliate Research Faculty at George Mason
University (cshogan@gmu.edu). She is a full-time employee of the
United States Senate, and the author of The Moral
Rhetoric of American Presidents (Texas A&M
Press, 2006). Earlier versions of this paper were presented at
the Miller Center of Public Affairs Colloquia Series on Politics
and History and Notre Dame's Program in American Democracy
Speaker Series. She would like to thank Sidney Milkis, Brian
Balogh, Jennifer Hochschild, Peri Arnold, Bruce Miroff, Eileen
Hunt-Botting, Christina Wolbrecht, David Adesnik, and several
anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and institutional
support.