Straussian constitutional history and the Straussian political project

Few recent intellectual figures have attracted as much attention as Leo Strauss (1899-1973). Although he did not write much about the United States or its history, his students have. This article first gives an overview of Strauss's understanding of the history of political thought and then relates it to his students' distinctive understanding of American constitutional history. Strauss's thought led his students to reject historicism and positivism in favor of an Aristotelian perspective on America that produced a qualified defense of its liberal constitutionalism.