Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Pursuit of Happiness
Published on
Jun 29, 2026
Contributors
Richard M. Reinsch II
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Vintage black and white photography art. Shutterstock.

Art of the New Deal

Contributors
Richard M. Reinsch II
Richard M. Reinsch II
Editor-in-Chief, Civitas Outlook
Richard M. Reinsch II
Summary
David T. Beito’s FDR: A New Political Life deals a severe blow to virtually every aspect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s legacy.
Summary
David T. Beito’s FDR: A New Political Life deals a severe blow to virtually every aspect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s legacy.
Listen to this article

David T. Beito’s FDR: A New Political Life deals a severe blow to virtually every aspect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s legacy. One progressive myth, which has been debunked for decades now, even though it was once nearly unquestionable, holds that Roosevelt’s fiscal, regulatory, and entitlement New Deal programs rescued America from the Great Depression and laid the foundation for a better, fairer country that future progressive presidents could build upon.

Beito challenges this consensus, examining New Deal policies and their lackluster economic performance. Over the years, much of this dismal economic picture has become common knowledge, with an array of academic and popular books capturing the human cost of stagnant unemployment rates and subpar productivity.

Read the full article from the Claremont Review of Books.

10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

Time for America to Declare Independence from Europe Again

Politics
Jun 30, 2026

Trap is Set: Job Market is About to Get Crushed if Labor Department Doesn’t Act Now

Politics
Jun 26, 2026
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Pursuit of Happiness

The Rise of Latino America

In The Rise of Latino America, Hernandez & Kotkin argue that Latinos, who are projected to become America’s largest ethnic group, are a dynamic force shaping the nation’s demographic, economic, and cultural future. Far from being a marginalized group defined by oppression, Latinos are integral to America’s story. They drive economic growth, cultural evolution, and workforce vitality. Challenges, however, including poverty, educational disparities, and restrictive policies, threaten their upward mobility. Policymakers who wish to harness Latino potential to ensure national prosperity and resilience should adopt policies that prioritize affordability, safety, and economic opportunity over ideological constraints.

Joel Kotkin, Jennifer Hernandez, Wendell Cox, Marshall Toplansky, Erika Ozuna
Pursuit of Happiness
Nov 10, 2025
Revival: Americans Heading Back to the Hinterlands

Smaller communities throughout the country are poised to play an outsize role in forging our future.

Joel Kotkin, Wendell Cox
Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 19, 2025
How to Save Our Urban Centers

What will the future of American cities look like?

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 26, 2025
National Poll from Civitas Institute: Americans Concerned About AI, Economic Issues

The Civitas Institute Poll, conducted from March 11-20, 2025, asked 1,200 Americans an array of questions about how things are going in the country.

Daron Shaw
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 11, 2025
Peter Robinson Unbridled - A Civitas Institute Podcast

Peter Robinson Unbridled

A new show and podcast bringing the energy of Austin to wide-ranging conversations on politics, economics, education, and culture.

View all
** items
Retiring the Nutty Professor

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 22, 2026
An Allegiance to Ghosts

Richard M. Reinsch II
Pursuit of Happiness
May 22, 2026
Warner Bros. Shareholders Set to Increase Streaming Competition

Michael Toth
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 21, 2026
God, Creation and ‘The Story of Everything’

A new documentary claims that modern science has reality all wrong.

Peter Robinson
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 16, 2026

Robert George and Cornel West - Truth Matters, A Book Talk

Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 26, 2025
1:05

Arthur Brooks on the Secret to a Fulfilling Life

Pursuit of Happiness
Jul 7, 2025
1:05

Populism Unpacked: Voices from the Heartland

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 4, 2025
1:05

Jeff Rosen on What “The Pursuit of Happiness” Meant to America's Founders

Pursuit of Happiness
Jan 26, 2025
1:05

Arthur C. Brooks on the Pursuit of Happiness in an Unhappy World

Pursuit of Happiness
May 8, 2024
1:05
No items found.
No items found.
The Declaration Is a Metaphysical and Political Triumph

It is the nature of genuinely lasting great texts that we observe new things in them that fit our moment.

Brian Smith
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 17, 2026
Gordon S. Wood's American Revolution

Widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent historian of the American Founding in our time, Wood was virtually without peer within academic American history today.

Steven Hayward
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 11, 2026
Gordon Wood Told the Truth About America

Gordon Wood showed us that a great historian could also be a regular guy.

Wilfred McClay
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 11, 2026
The Active Dead

Helprin’s refusal to flatter the tastes of our prize-encrusted literary establishment merits three cheers from thinking people on the right.

Lee Oser
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 5, 2026
No items found.