Edmund Burke
1729–1797 · Irish-British · Enlightenment
Known for: Father of modern conservatism who supported American independence but opposed the French Revolution—and was right about both
Eloquent, passionate, and paradoxical. An Irishman who championed English tradition, a reformer who opposed revolution. One of Parliament's greatest orators.
He supported American independence but opposed the French Revolution, seeing it as destructive of organic social bonds. His warnings proved prescient when the Terror followed.
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