The Current Wisdom

You are all familiar with the Chicago School of Political Science. That distinguished body of opinion holds that no American should be denied his civil rights on the basis of race, creed, color, or pulse rate. If a man has been a loyal American citizen throughout his life, it is maintained, there is no cause in justice to cut off his right to vote simply because some meddling bureaucrat has certified him deceased. Fair is fair.

Over the years the Chicago School has operated with singular efficiency. Its political favorites, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson among them, have won startling come-from-behind victories. Its political opponents, those upon whom the School did not smile, have fallen victim to campaign blunders; in several cases, their strategists failed to allow for the possibility that voter turnout would exceed registration figures. Ah, those simple mistakes. Beginning in the mid-Sixties, however, after JFK and LBJ had pulled the ladder up after them, the Chicago School began to attract a bad press. Boy Scouts dressed up as editorial-page editors began to goo-goo them onto the defensive and, with the death of Richard Daley and the enervation of Carmine De Sapio, the Chicago School fell into disrepute and, with a few exceptions, desuetude.

About the Author

Neal B. Freeman

Neal B. Freeman, businessman and journalist, was a director of National Review Inc. for 38 years.

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You are all familiar with the Chicago School of Political Science. That distinguished body of opinion holds that no American should be denied his civil rights on the basis of race, creed, color, or pulse rate. If a man has been a loyal American citizen throughout his life, it is maintained, there is no cause in justice to cut off his right to vote simply because some meddling bureaucrat has certified him deceased. Fair is fair.

Over the years the Chicago School has operated with singular efficiency. Its political favorites, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson among them, have won startling come-from-behind victories. Its political opponents, those upon whom the School did not smile, have fallen victim to campaign blunders; in several cases, their strategists failed to allow for the possibility that voter turnout would exceed registration figures. Ah, those simple mistakes. Beginning in the mid-Sixties, however, after JFK and LBJ had pulled the ladder up after them, the Chicago School began to attract a bad press. Boy Scouts dressed up as editorial-page editors began to goo-goo them onto the defensive and, with the death of Richard Daley and the enervation of Carmine De Sapio, the Chicago School fell into disrepute and, with a few exceptions, desuetude.