It’s sad, really.
Nearly every Historian I’ve ever known has a political agenda. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is much more common than it is with, say, Mathematicians. The problem isn’t that these professionals have an opinion; everyone is entitled to theirs. The problem is that most people assume that Historians are experts on politics. This only makes sense; their High School history teacher taught them about presidents, and elections, and all of that, so why wouldn’t most Historians be experts on politics?
This creates a number of difficulties. Why? Several reasons:
- Most Historians are not professionally trained in Political Science;
- Most Historians have only a passing knowledge of or interest in political history;
- Much of the historiography of the last century has been written from a decidedly Marxist and/or liberal perspective (I would say the same if it were weighted to the other side of the scale, by the way);
- Historians, like all people, are unable to escape their basic presuppositions and their own environment when it comes to politics;
- Most people don’t know the above facts, and so the myth of the History Professor goes on and on.
So, are Historians as unreliable as, let’s say, celebrities when it comes to politics? Not necessarily, but the Ph.D in History doesn’t guarantee that they are reliable either. On average are they more reliable that celebrities? I hope so. Are they more reliable than those Mathematics professors? I’m not so sure.
Here’s another problem with Historians and politics. Many historians pretend to be neutral and objective when it comes to discussing politics in the context of History. So, they celebrate FDR and run down Nixon, all the while claiming to do so from an objective viewpoint. Hogwash.
The right thing for Historians to do is to have a policy of disclosure. Tell your students or listeners or readers where you’re coming from before you ever start answering the historical questions. You and your hearers are both better of in the long run for your doing so, and if nothing else you will gain their respect.
For more on the topic of political history, check out Morton Keller’s America’s Three Regimes: A New Political History
