On Democracy

By: Walt Whitman

Published by Library of America, 2026-02-17

Gathered together for the first time, Walt Whitman's urgently needed prose writings on the democratic spirit and the soul of the nation. 12 short works encapsulate the American Bard's fiery passions and timeless wisdom for today. Here for the first time in a convenient pocket edition are all of Walt Whitman’s essential prose writings on democracy, including his unforgrettable reflections on the roots on American division, the fearful legacy of the Civil War, and shining example of Abraham Lincoln. Few writers have been as harsh in their condemnation of America’s sins and spiritual shortcomings or as abiding in his faith in democratic ideals as Whitman. His clarion voice speaks to us with renewed urgency today. Gathered here are: “The Eighteenth Presidency!,” written during the 1856 presidential campaign, in which Whitman expresses his rage over the immediate prospects for American democracy Democratic Vistas (1871), in which he dramatizes his role as poet-prophet of a better America the searing essay “Origins of Attempted Secession” and shorter extracts on democracy from the classic book Specimen Days (1882). In his introduction, acclaimed political observer David Bromwich examines Whitman’s political prose writings and highlights why they matter today.