Date of Graduation

1977

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This study focuses upon a r e la tiv e ly unexplored phase of H. L . Mencken's c a r e e r - - h i s r o le a s a c r i t i c o f th e New Deal between the years 1933 and 1936. I t is based upon published sources - - p rim arily h is weekly column for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the a r t i c l e s and e d it o r ia ls which he wrote fo r The American Mercury. An i n tr o d u c to r y c h a p te r examines th e newspaperman's views on the Depression and the e le c tio n of 1932. Seven succeeding chapters summarize th e many c r i t i c i s m s which Mencken v o ice d about th e New Deal program as i t evolved during the years of Franklin R oosevelt's f i r s t term. The concluding chapter suggests th a t in one sense Mencken's commentary on th e New Deal can be viewed as a j o u r n a l i s t i c e x p re s s io n of conservative Democratic opposition to the Roosevelt a d m in istratio n . The conclusion a lso su b je c ts the famous Baltim ore c r i t i c to a number of c ritic is m s . Mencken's rep o rtin g of the Roosevelt ad m in istratio n is likened to the work of a p o litic a l c a ric a tu r is t or c a rto o n is t, y et judged a fa ilu re on sev eral counts. The jo u r n a l is t's c a ric a tu re of th e New Deal g r a d u a lly became so h ig h ly d i s t o r t e d and e x a g g e ra te d as to be v i r t u a l l y u n reco g n izab le. Mencken's w r itin g in th is perio d was a ls o flawed by e x c e s s iv e r e p e t i t i o n , and by an u n d e rly in g mood th a t was o fte n mean, short-tem pered, and m isan th ro p ic.

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