On the back cover of Philip Dru: Administrator, it says: “Dru has had a greater impact on American government than the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf or any other tract of political extremism, yet by comparison, Dru is unknown.” And yet, William Norman Grigg, writer for The New American, calls this “unread” book “the most influential political tract of the 20th Century.”

Dru is mostly unknown because no one yet has made the American public aware of its tremendous importance to our political and social scene. We’ll try to remedy that.

Philip Dru: Administator was anonymously written by Edward Mandell House in 1912. Though an un-elected public official, House was a close advisor to President Woodrow Wilson, who even referred to House as his “alter ego”, so close in political unison was the thinking of both men. Thinking, incidentally, which reflected a shared enthusiasm for what we see creeping into America today. It is a fervent desire for a “different” America that Philip Dru strives for; and which House promotes through the acts of Dru in his stunning novel.

Philip Dru’s early years are not necessarily relevant to the plot, so let’s skip that and get right into the meat of the story. Through crafty and subtle persuasion Dru is able to worm his way into higher and higher political circles, until finally he becomes America’s “Administrator” (read dictator), gradually reshaping each department of government to his “beneficent” vision of the “new America.”

Any reader of Dru will have to admit that the Administrator’s assessment of what is wrong with the functions of government has a legitimate ring to it. A quick, paraphrased sampling of Dru’s thoughts on the matter is revealing:

“From the dawn of the world it has been the strong against the weak. Brute strength counted. And gradually, the intellectual few who had powers to rule, exacted tribute from the others of all they were capable.  It was then that society began to form itself wrongly, and the result is the miserable travesty of today. Selfishness became the keynote. To the physically and mentally strong was conceded everything that is desirable in life. Later, this mockery of justice was recognized, and it was acknowledged to be wrong for the strong to despoil and destroy the weak.”

This is how Edward Mandell House apparently viewed conditions inside government at the time, and using the “voice” Philip Dru, concocted the scheme of reshaping America’s political and social environment to match his personal vision of it. Problem is, it was an all-for-one, one-for-all vision, and because House had made himself so indispensable to President Wilson, it forged an evolving concept of American life that is troubling to the American of today.

In the book, Philip Dru revised and restructured laws for every activity which he determined needed government “supervision”:  political, economic, military, educational, recreational, environmental, financial, and social. He covered it all. Wherever and whenever Philip Dru, the Administrator, saw a need for governmental change, he changed it, leaving no segment of American life as he found it.

Now, when I finished reading Philip Dru: Aministrator, I had to admit, albeit begrudging, that many of House’s thoughts about the government made sense. It was then (and is now) too big, too intrusive, too unresponsive, too corrupt, too unmindful of the poor, and indulgent to the rich. And frankly, I found myself drifting toward thoughts not exactly in tune with our Founding Fathers idea of independence and freedom.

But two glaring flaws in House’s “story” turned me around and pointed me in the right direction.

One, all the “equality” in Dru’s new America was nice sounding except that it was created, administered, and supervised by ONE MAN: Philip Dru, Lord and Master of the new American government. Nothing was done that was not done by him, through him, or because of him. Dru played God. But no man is big enough to fill that roll. Least of all in America. Unless, of course, we prefer to live under a Fascist regime.

Two, in creating his vision of a new America, Philip Dru had to make changes in policy, laws, and principles. This, again, was what ONE MAN’S idea of what these mandates should be. To accomplish this, Dru had to quietly abolish the U.S. Constitution and fashion a new one. He had to revise the Bill of Rights to coincide with HIS idea of equality, protection, justice, and liberties. And he had to establish a system of free enterprise that was free for everyone, even for those who hadn’t earned it.

Take a long, hard look at America today. If you see something disturbing and different than what your parents or grandparents had, and worked so hard for, you can lay much of the blame on Edward Mandell House who, serving as Woodrow Wilson’ confidante and Philip Dru’s author, put America on a dangerous dictatorial path.

Writer Grigg sums up his forward to House’s book with this thought: “Its influence has been written in blood and paid for in the coin of stolen liberties. But its malignant vision has not yet triumphed completely. Those who would defeat the designs of the Power Elite must first understand those designs---and they are on full display in Philip Dru.”

They certainly are.

James T. Moore
http://jamestmoore.us/