"For Whitman, loyalty to America was loyalty to democracy. Since the idea that democracy is not just a political process but a social and cultural process as well is associated with American pragmatism, Mack relies on the pragmatic tradition of Emerson, James, Dewey, Mead, and Rorty to demonstrate the ways in which Whitman resides in this tradition.".

"Mack describes the foundation of Whitman's democracy as found in the 1855 and 1856 editions of Leaves of Grass, examines the ways in which Whitman's 1859 sexual crisis and the Civil War transformed his democratic poetics in "Sea-Drift," "Calamus," Drum-Taps, and Sequel to Drum-Taps, and explores Whitman's mature vision in Democratic Vistas, concluding with observations on its moral and political implications today.

Throughout, he illuminates Whitman's great achievement - learning that a full appreciation for the complexities of human life meant understanding that liberty can take many different and conflicting forms - and allows us to contemplate the relevance of that achievement at the beginning of the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.