Was James Buchanan a Racist? Libertarians and Historical Research

Note: This is the original review I wrote for Democracy in Chains back in July 2017. A lot has happened around the book since then including it making the short list of finalists for the National Book Award. Rather than rewrite my review, I am publishing it here unchanged. I have provided links to my blog if you are interested in any of my further thoughts on the book.

This is the cover a new book by Duke historian Nancy MacLean. I was dreading reading it because MacLean is a terrific historian; I’ve long admired her history of the twentieth-century Ku Klux Klan, Behind the Mask of Chivalry. This new book appeared to be the history I am working on: its thesis is that the white south’s program of Massive Resistance to Brown v. Board of Education was the start of the right wing’s current attempts to disenfranchise voters and to undermine democracy in order to let the free market operate.

MacLean’s book turns out to be much different from the one I hope to write; her focus is on economist James M. Buchanan who moved easily in the corridors of power in Virginia and beyond. The folks I’m interested in consider Buchanan a pseudo-libertarian for these very reasons. In many ways, MacLean’s book is a story of the straightforward successes of libertarians and I hope my work can complement her achievement.