There are many reasons I’m intrigued by the story of the feud between James G. Blaine and Roscoe Conkling. One of them is the way they used the English language. Now that we find ourselves in an era when the hot take and the mean-spirited tweet define our discourse, it was a delight to revel in a period when the language of politics was so expressive and eloquent.
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Transcript
One reason why I wrote "The Partisans"
The language of Gilded Age politics is so much more elegant and interesting than the playground name-calling of 2025.
A Strife of Interests
The title of this podcast devoted to the politics, personalities, and issues of the Gilded Age comes from The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce’s delightful lexicon of words and phrases compiled in book form in 1906. Bierce defined politics as “A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”
The title of this podcast devoted to the politics, personalities, and issues of the Gilded Age comes from The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce’s delightful lexicon of words and phrases compiled in book form in 1906. Bierce defined politics as “A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”Appears in episode
Robert B. Mitchell
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