NEW REPUBLIC, THE

weekly journal of opinion that was one of the most influential liberal magazines in the United States from its founding in 1914. The magazine was begun by Willard Straight with Herbert David Croly as its editor. The journal reflected the progressive movement and sought reforms in American government and society. Among its early editors or contributors were Randolph Bourne, Walter Lippmann, and Malcolm Cowley. Early on, The New Republic supported the formation of labour unions, the eight-hour workday, and woman suffrage. It also supported President Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy during World War I but later broke with him and opposed the Versailles Treaty. The magazine declined in the 1920s, when its liberal viewpoint was out of favour, but it revived in the 1930s. After early opposing him, The New Republic ended up supporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration and his New Deal. In 1946 Roosevelt's former vice president, Henry A. Wallace, became the journal's editor and moved it further to the left until he was forced to resign. The New Republic adhered to its liberal orientation from the 1950s through the '70s, but in the 1980s the magazine began displaying an array of editorial opinion and commentary that reflected the resurgence of conservatism in American political thought. The New Republic has remained an influential journal of political commentary and analysis.