What It Means to Be a Man: Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River

It’s no secret that Americans struggle to talk about masculinity. The Democratic Party is the most prominent example of this challenge. With Tim Walz’s camouflage cap and football-coach speeches failing to capture manly hearts and minds, Kamala Harris won just 42 percent of the male vote in 2024, compared with Joe Biden’s 48 percent in 2020. The New York Times recently reported on a $20 million plan for Democrats to reverse this trend: “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan” — or SAM — recommends that Democrats “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these [online] spaces. . . . Above all, we must shift from a moralizing tone.” I do not like this, SAM-I-am; I do not like this feeble plan. Meanwhile, it’s easy to think the GOP may be trying too hard to be the party of manliness. Hulk Hogan ripping off his T-shirt at the Republican convention and Trump’s frequent appearances at UFC events are one thing; the bizarre defense from prominent MAGA voices of Tristan and Andrew Tate, the social media influencers who face human-trafficking and rape charges in Romania and the U.K., is another.

Despite their differences, the two parties are asking a basic question: How should men behave, and what can our culture do to encourage that behavior? While a number of important works of nonfiction have explored these questions over the past decades (not to mention a few screenwriters and directors), one of the most intriguing books on the subject is a novel written at the turn of this century. Leif Enger’s 2001 work Peace Like a River offers profound insights into what it means to be a man — a good man — through the contrasting attitudes and behavior of three major characters.

About the Author

Christopher J. Scalia

Christopher J. Scalia is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read).

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It’s no secret that Americans struggle to talk about masculinity. The Democratic Party is the most prominent example of this challenge. With Tim Walz’s camouflage cap and football-coach speeches failing to capture manly hearts and minds, Kamala Harris won just 42 percent of the male vote in 2024, compared with Joe Biden’s 48 percent in 2020. The New York Times recently reported on a $20 million plan for Democrats to reverse this trend: “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan” — or SAM — recommends that Democrats “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these [online] spaces. . . . Above all, we must shift from a moralizing tone.” I do not like this, SAM-I-am; I do not like this feeble plan. Meanwhile, it’s easy to think the GOP may be trying too hard to be the party of manliness. Hulk Hogan ripping off his T-shirt at the Republican convention and Trump’s frequent appearances at UFC events are one thing; the bizarre defense from prominent MAGA voices of Tristan and Andrew Tate, the social media influencers who face human-trafficking and rape charges in Romania and the U.K., is another.

Despite their differences, the two parties are asking a basic question: How should men behave, and what can our culture do to encourage that behavior? While a number of important works of nonfiction have explored these questions over the past decades (not to mention a few screenwriters and directors), one of the most intriguing books on the subject is a novel written at the turn of this century. Leif Enger’s 2001 work Peace Like a River offers profound insights into what it means to be a man — a good man — through the contrasting attitudes and behavior of three major characters.

About the Author

Christopher J. Scalia

Christopher J. Scalia is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read).