Paul Johnson on H.L. Mencken's attacks against the New Deal

Mencken excelled himself in attacking the triumphant FDR, whose whiff of fraudulant collectivism filled him with genuine disgust.  He was the 'Fuhrer,' the 'Quack,' surrounded by 'an astonishing rabble of impudent nobodies,' 'a gang of half-educated pedagogues, nonconstitutional lawyers, starry-eyed uplifters and other such sorry wizards.'  His New Deal was a 'political racket,' a series of stupendous bogus  miracles,' with its 'constant appeals to class envy and hatred,' treating government as 'a milch-cow with 125 million teats' and market by 'frequent repudiations of categorical pledges.'

~ Paul Johnson, A History of the American People (1997), p. 762

Paul Johnson at the onset of the Iraq War (2003)

The U.S. must not merely possess the means to act alone if necessary; it must alsocultivate the will. Fate, or Divine Providence, has placed America at this time in the position of sole superpower, with the consequent duty to uphold global order and to punish, or prevent, the great crimes of the world. That is what America did in Afghanistan, is in the process of doing in Iraq and will have to do elsewhere. It must continue to engage the task imposed upon it, not in any spirit of hubris but in the full and certain knowledge that it is serving the best and widest interests of humanity.

~ Paul Johnson, historian, "Five Vital Lessons From Iraq," Forbes, March 17, 2003