One year out from the 2020 Presidential election, historian Sarah Churchwell spoke at Winter Weekend on Sunday, examining the emergence of the idea of White Anglo-Saxon American Protestantism in 20th-century America, and the unlikely roots of the Ku Klux Klan.
Building on the work of her most recent book - Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream - Churchwell encouraged the audience to look deeper into the origins of the phrase "America First" and explore further how that history illuminates our present moment.
"The possibility that America would have turned facist during WW2 is not something we entertain much now, but it really worried people at the time," she noted, "in a way that feels all too familiar today."
"And if you read It Can’t Happen Here [the semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis]," Churchwell continued, "it feels incredibly prescient. Trump looms on every page."
She added, "Reactionary populism in the US has historically defined itself against the same enemies – urban elites, immigrants, liberals, progressives and organised labour; and for the same beliefs – evangelical Protestantism, traditional ‘family values’ and white supremacy."
Explore the full Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme here.