In 1919, The Education of Henry Adams—published the year before—won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1999, The Modern Library named The Education the best nonfiction book of the twentieth century. In the eighty years between these two events, Henry Adams's "autobiography" remained a topic of scholarly discussion, underwent numerous reprints, and entered canonical editions such as the Library of America. This dissertation explores how exactly The Education became an "American classic"—one of the most revered and influential nonfiction works of the twentieth century—by examining the specific type of influence The Education has had in American culture and what this influence signifies.

Although this study explores the reception of The Education throughout the entire twentieth century, the focus is on the Cold War era; the ultimate success of The Education in entering the American consciousness in an enduring manner depended upon a group of intellectuals—public officials, scholars, novelists, journalists, and artists—embracing Henry Adams in the particular way that readers did after the Second World War. This embrace was not strictly historical or academic—Adams and The Education were consciously used as models for creating both public and literary personas. This embrace was also not limited to one particular political persuasion—Adams and The Education were appealing to both liberals and conservatives.

The specifically political and social concerns fostered by the Cold War influenced the aesthetic, stylistic, and philosophical tone of the work of many intellectuals, and it was at the confluence of these different concerns that many readers found The Education to be relevant, insightful, comforting, and useful. Many Cold War intellectuals were attracted to The Education as they explored the question of what their responsibility was in a democratic society that seemed difficult to reform; Adams was a compelling example, and justification, for intellectuals who believed that there was little they could do to alter the social and political structure. In this respect, Adams was able to articulate a response and provide a pose for readers who confronted social and economic conditions that made them, like Adams, feel like American misfits.