The Idealist: Wendell Willkie’s Wartime Quest to Build One World (Session 2)

The World Citizen Book Club continued its exploration of The Idealist: Wendell Willkie’s Wartime Quest to Build One World by Samuel Zipp in this second and final session. Author Dr. Samuel Zipp joined participants to discuss the latter portions of the book, examining how Willkie’s vision of international cooperation shaped subsequent decades of American foreign policy and global governance thinking.

About the Book

The Idealist chronicles Wendell Willkie’s transformative 1942 journey around the world, during which the former Republican presidential contender visited battlefronts in Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and China. His resulting bestseller One World challenged Americans to reject isolationism and narrow nationalism, urging citizens to embrace equality of opportunity for every race and nation. Zipp argues that Willkie’s warnings about racially charged nationalism remain deeply relevant, and that the concept of “one world” he popularized would go on to inspire world government advocates, anti-imperialists, and environmentalists for generations. Published by Harvard University Press.

About the Author

Samuel Zipp is a cultural and urban historian at Brown University. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, n+1, The Baffler, and The Nation. He is the author of Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York and coedited a collection of the writings of Jane Jacobs.

Discussion Highlights

This second session delved deeper into Willkie’s lasting influence on American internationalism, examining how the “one world” ideal evolved from wartime aspiration to a guiding concept for postwar movements. Participants discussed the enduring tension between American exceptionalism and global cooperation, and considered what resources Willkie’s example offers for navigating contemporary challenges of nationalism and democratic governance.