John Steinbeck and America

Today is the 108^th birthday of John Steinbeck, one of my favorite authors.  He gave us The Grapes of Wrath, one of the great American novels that became one of the great American films.  He also gave us eighteen other novels, including Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flat, and Cannery Row.

            Lately, I have been reading his nonfiction, especially America and Americans, his last book, where he delves into the American “character”—what makes us all Americans, regardless of where our families came from—and the foundations of America’s sense of community.  In the chapter “Government of the People,” he writes about the unique qualities of American politics and has this to say about the role of the President:

The power of the President is great if he can use it; but it is a moral power, a power activated by persuasion and discussion, by the manipulation of the alignments of many small but aggressive groups, each one weak in itself but protected in combination against usurpation of its rights by the executive; and even if the national government should swing into line behind Presidential exercise of power, there remain the rights, prejudices, and customs of states, counties, and townships, management of private production, labor unions, churches, professional organizations of doctors, lawyers, the guilds and leagues and organizations.  All these can give a President trouble; and if, reacting even to the suspicion of overuse or misuse of power, they stand together, a President finds himself hamstrung, straitjacketed, and helpless.”

He also has this comment on folksinger Woody Guthrie:

Harsh-voiced and nasal his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings.  But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression.  I think we call this the American Spirit.

Steinbeck, John. America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction. Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson, eds. Penguin Books, 2003.