Historians Alan Brinkley and William Leuchtenburg discuss New Deal economic programs of the 1930s, enacted during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which shaped American political thought and actions for decades. They discuss Ronald Reagan’s shift from being an early New Deal adherent to becoming an oppositional conservative, after which he was elected president in 1980.
At the time of this interview, Brinkley, a trustee of the National Humanities Center, was professor of history at Harvard University. Leuchtenburg, a Fellow at the Center (1978-81) and a trustee of the Center, was professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
