“The New Deal, which gave unprecedented authority to intellectuals in government, was, in certain important respects, anti-intellectual. Without the activist faith, perhaps not nearly so much would have been achieved. [...] Yet the liberals, in their desire to free themselves from the tyranny of precedent and in their ardor for social achievement, sometimes walked the precipice of superficiality and philistinism.” New DealProgressivismRoosevelt Book:Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940 Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940