Background
Congdon, Lee Walter was born on August 11, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Son of Russell Arthur and Sheila Downs Congdon.
Congdon, Lee Walter was born on August 11, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Son of Russell Arthur and Sheila Downs Congdon.
Bachelor, Wheaton College, Illinois, 1961. Master of Arts, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, 1967. Doctor of Philosophy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, 1973.
Congdon is the author of four books The first three were The Young Lukacs (1983), Exile and Social Thought (1991), and Seeing Red (2001). His fourth book was George Kennan: A Writing Life (2008).
Congdon also coedited two books on the Hungarian Revolution.
In 2006 Congdon retired as Professor of History at James Madison University, after more than thirty years of teaching. Congdon is an Eastern Orthodox Christian.
"Politically, for instance, Congdon veers right of the American right, meaning, within a European context, he is a monarchist. Foreign European conservatives,” Congdon says, “order is first and liberty only within a context of order.”.
Taken together, the works represent a trilogy examining the unique contributions of Hungarian intellectuals to 20th century social and political thought. In the fall of 2002 Congdon was interviewed in the James Madison University Magazine Montpelier,:
He sees little difference between the competing ideologies of America’s political parties and he professes an abiding admiration and preference over the common-denominator chaos of American democracy for some of Europe’s royalist governments of the latter 19th century, wherein “liberty — not equality — was the highest political value.
Married Carol Buchner, April 15, 1967. Children: Mitchell Lee, Colleen Lynn.