A Defender of Southern Conservatism: M.E. Bradford and His Achievements

M.E.Bradford ranks as the leading Southern conservative intellectual of recent times and this collection of essays edited by Clyde Wilson serves as an good introduction to a good deal of his thought. There is an excellent bibliography of all of Bradford's works. The writers make no attempt to be impartial and thankfully tell the reader that right off the bat and the book is something of a eulogy and tribute. While Bradford's political vision is certainly captured, his literary pursuits seem to be put on the back burner. One caveat must be mentioned. The various writers often go a bit over the top in the praise for Bradford which is to be expected as they were his friends and compatriots. But they often seem a bit blinded by their emotions. For example, Bradford's failure in obtaining the N.E.H. chairmanship is mentioned as a victory for southern conservatives in the long run since it allowed Bradford to write more. The reader is also assured that scholars can not afford to overlook his works on Abraham Lincoln-a silly point since it is done all the time by writers who do not share Bradford's harsh view of Lincoln. Of the various writers only Eugene Genovese and the late Elizabeth Fox-Genovese seem to be willing to face the regrettable heart of the matter: despite his many publications, M.E.Bradford is basically ignored outside of southern conservative and paleo-con circles. While often interesting and insightful, this collection of essays really does not introduce Bradford to a new audience alas.

~A Defender of Southern Conservatism: M.E. Bradford and His Achievements~ is an informative overview of the life, legacy and scholarship of the late Mel Bradford who died in the early 1990s. The southern historian Clyde Wilson has assembled a powerful anthology of essays in tribute to the late Mel Bradford. It should be duly noted that no true blue conservative can study the American founding, the Constitution, and southern history without eventually encountering the name Mel Bradford. Bradford was an heir to Southern Agrarian movement centered at Vanderbilt University and left a legacy of constitutional scholarship and literary achievement. He served as professor of English at the University of Dallas and gained notoriety for his southern literary criticism He was 1980 nominee to chair the National Institute of the Humanities chair under the Reagan administration, but Bradford lost to the former Democrat and neoconservative Bill Bennett. Bradford caused quite a stir as his views over Abraham Lincoln became a source of controversy. The budding neoconservatives mounted a smear campaign, and the political activism and anti-Lincoln sentiments of Bradford may well have cost him the nomination. In the aftermath, the paleoconservative movement became more self-conscious as the fissure deepened. Their passionate and principled dissenting tradition served as a reminder to their neoconservative tormentors about what conservatism really embodied. Bradford frequently sparred with Claremont Institute's resident egalitarian Harry Jaffa who was a cheerleader for Lincoln's constitutional revolution that forever changed the American polity for better or worse. In my humble opinion, the jurist Marshal DeRosa's exposition of Bradford's constitutional theory is perhaps the most sterling and informative piece of prose contained therein. This book packs quite a punch, and praise is due to the editor Clyde Wilson for putting together such a potent tribute to such a worthy luminary amongst southern conservatives. M.E. Bradford left a legacy of scholarship-both literary and political-that needs to be examined for years to come.

In many years of reading about the American Founding, the history and culture of the South, and conservative politics, I kept encountering the name M.E. Bradford. But apart from reading the occasional article, I had neglected to pay him much attention. But that is an oversight I am definitely going to work on repairing, now that I have completed this thorough look at the man's work and influence. Mel Bradford was both a student of the Southern Agrarians and perhaps the definitive expositor of their view. By interest and vocation, his mind explored history and politics, but also literature and poetry, from the ancients to the most contemporary. The essays in this collection cover similar ground, analyzing Bradford, his work, the influences that shaped him, and his own influence, across a variety of disciplines. Generally sympathetic but not uncritical where criticism is warranted, the nine contributions here pack a lot of insight and information into a relatively few pages. And like so many of the books I seem to enjoy best, it produced a long list of additional books to add to my must-read list -- Bradford's own, most obviously, but many others as well. The influence of the Southern Agrarians on history was admittedly slight, and Bradford's own lasting significance is open to debate. What's blessedly clear, however, is that he and his legacy have not yet been eclipsed. The fight over Bradford's nomination to head the National Endowment for the Humanities early in the Reagan Administration was one of the earliest fault lines in the much-discussed "conservative crackup," and an early milestone in the neocon ascendancy. That ascendancy is far from absolute, however, and heat is still rising from the cracks and fissures. This book serves as a useful reminder of the issues at stake there, too. Mostly, however, "A Defender of Southern Conservatism" is a fine testimonial to an influential scholar and an admirable gentleman. It's definitely inspired me to dig more deeply into his life and work, and I expect other readers shall have the same reaction.

Prof. Wilson has gathered together a number of essays exploring various aspects of the thinking and writing of the late M.E. Bradford, professor of English at the University of Dallas. In addition Dr. Bradford was a rhetorician, historian, politician, and defender of the Agrarian ideal most clearly expressed this century in I'll Take My Stand but whose earliest antecedents go back to Jefferson and John Taylor of Caroline. Bradford was a candidate for chairman of the National Institute of the Humanities but whose nomination was sidetracked (by George Will, among others)when Dr. Bradford's less than laudatory writings on Lincoln came to light. The essays, contributed by Bradford intimates like Tom Landess and fellow historians Eugene and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, reveal a man of enormous erudition who believed a society works best when it faithfully adheres to the traditions bequeathed to it by earlier generations. For Bradford, those traditions are best illuminated by the Constitution and by the literary works of men and women who honestly record the lives of a community bound by duty and honor. Let's hope this book leads to a widespread interest in Dr. Bradford's work.