Vital Center
Encyclopedia
The term The Vital Center was first coined by Harvard
historian
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., in his 1949 book of that title. He himself objects to the domestic use of the phrase, though:
U.S. President Bill Clinton
started to use the phrase "vital center" in speeches given during his term of office. Schlesinger wrote an article for Slate magazine
noting that Clinton hoped to appropriate this term to mean "middle of the road" or something that his "DLC
fans" might prefer its meaning to be, which would locate it "somewhere closer to Ronald Reagan
than to Franklin D. Roosevelt". In the Slate article, Schlesinger strongly rejected this interpretation of the term, and reiterated his argument from the 1949 article:
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., in his 1949 book of that title. He himself objects to the domestic use of the phrase, though:
U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
started to use the phrase "vital center" in speeches given during his term of office. Schlesinger wrote an article for Slate magazine
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
noting that Clinton hoped to appropriate this term to mean "middle of the road" or something that his "DLC
Democratic Leadership Council
The Democratic Leadership Council was a non-profit 501 corporation that, upon its formation, argued the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s...
fans" might prefer its meaning to be, which would locate it "somewhere closer to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
than to Franklin D. Roosevelt". In the Slate article, Schlesinger strongly rejected this interpretation of the term, and reiterated his argument from the 1949 article: