The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was among the few members of what Paul Tillich called the “theological circle” to make a significant impact on the secular world. Within this world, Niebuhr’s influence was most pronounced among those associated with historical studies and politics. This book presents Niebuhr’s dialogues and interactions with seven influential individuals from fields as diverse as theology, philosophy, political theory, diplomacy, and jurisprudence – men whose careers took them to the pinnacles of their professions.

Paul Tillich was the dominant philosophical theologian in mid-twentieth-century America. John Dewey, a staunch defender of democracy and icon of social liberalism, was America’s leading educator and successor to William James as the preeminent exponent of American pragmatism. Norman Thomas established a reputation as the most influential voice of socialism in the United States. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. was a brilliant and prolific historian, as well as a political activist and presidential adviser. Hans Morgenthau, after his arrival in America, quickly became the leading authority in international political theory and a forceful advocate of political realism. George Kennan, an expert on Soviet affairs and author of the United States’ post–World War II “containment theory,” was one of America’s most able diplomats. Felix Frankfurter was a giant on the Supreme Court and was considered by many to possess a brilliance matched by very few in the history of that august body.