Hartz Traces Pattern In Century's Politics

The election of John F. Kennedy '40 could mean the beginning of a progressive movement which compares to the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 and the New Freedom of Woodrow Wilson, Louis Harts '40, professor of Government, said yesterday at the Hillel Round Table of World Affairs.

Speaking on "Recent Trends in American Thought," Harts outlined a pattern which he said has repeated itself twice during the 20th century. A progressive movement is the first stage in this pattern.

Hartz Draws Parallels

According to Hars, both progressive movements of this century were followed by great World Wars and periods of intense nationalism. He drew a parallel between the 1919 "Red Scare" and McCarthyism of the '50's.

The "radical attacks upon social conformity" in the writing of Eric From, William H. Whyte and David Riesman '31, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, complete the pattern, according to Hartz. He compared them to the earlier polemics on society written by Sinclair Lewis and H. L. Mencken in the '20's.

Although he would make no predictions on the basis on this pattern, Harts said the cyclical stages "will manifest themselves in one way or another is the next 40 years."

Harts asserted his dislikes for cyclical theories of history, but added "evidence is overwhelming in substantiation of this scheme."