On September 22, 2016 at the First Things editorial office in New York City, Helen Andrews delivered a lecture on American dictators old and new. Drawing on the example of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s unprecedented consolidation of executive power in the 1930s and 1940s, Andrews argued that both candidates in this year’s presidential contest show dictatorial tendencies. But some dictators are more dangerous than others—so which should we choose?
Helen Andrews is the author of “Bloodless Moralism” and other essays for First Things, as well as National Review, the Hedgehog Review, Books & Culture, and Quadrant. She is also a regular commentator on the ABC (Australia) news panel show Planet America.
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