| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 96.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 96.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Political Moderation in America's First Two Centuries. By Robert McCluer Calhoon. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xviii, 291 pp. Cloth, $90.00, ISBN 978-0-521-51554-2. Paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-521-73416-5.)
This is an intriguing and eclectic survey of political moderation. Robert McCluer Calhoon begins with King Archidamus of Sparta and concludes with Carl Schurz, a Mugwump supporter of Grover Cleveland. The focus, however, is on ground familiar to the author—religious and political figures largely from the southern backcountry. In a series of biographical vignettes, Calhoon attempts to demonstrate how their actions made them moderates.	1
Calhoon defines political moderation as the nexus of "inherited beliefs or principles" and "natural caution ... or prudence" (p. 5). Moderates are individuals who take actions "at significant risk or cost, to mediate conflicts, conciliate antagonisms, or find middle ground" (p. 6). (The author zealously employs italics throughout the text to reinforce his main points.)	. . .

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