Jefferson and Ataturk: Political Philosophies

by Garrett Ward Sheldon
March 29, 2004

Two Giants from two different eras and countries
Reviewer: Dr J.E.Botton from Lynchburg, VA United States.

I have been looking forward to the publication of this interesting book by Prof.Garrett W.Sheldon. This concise work by a jeffersonian scholar (87 pages and an appendix outlining the American and Turkish Constitutions) had been inspired, according to the author, by an “uncanny resemblance between the ideals of republicanism, freedom of religion,liberty of conscience, public education,economic development and national independence found in Ataturk and Jefferson”. Although I read it with great interest, I was somewhat dismayed by the the rather limited place given to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (only three references..) versus a man certainly very well known, particularly in the US, Thomas Jefferson (eighteen references). While the latter was a leader in the struggle for independence and foundation of a new State following a revolutionary war against England, Ataturk managed to establish a new Republic after a most difficult fight against the same England, as well as France, Italy, Russia, Greece,etc. during the First World War and, in the same time, getting the country rid of a much weakened Ottoman Sultanate and the Caliphate. In addition,and within only fifteen years, he managed a long lasting revolution in education by switching from an arabic to a latin alphabet, civil and political rights to men and women as well as minorities, complete separation of state and religion,etc.
“Turks undoubtedly owe Ataturk an enormous debt of gratitude. After all, he almost single-handed saved their country from destruction. At the end of the first world war, it looked as though, after centuries of Ottoman decline, Turkey might disappear from the map altogether. But Ataturk rallied the bedraggled remnants of the Ottoman army, defeated the invading Greeks, threw out the humiliating treaty of Sèvres and won international recognition of an expanded and revitalised Turkish state.Over the next 15 years, Ataturk reinvented Turkey on the model of a European nation-state. He replaced an absolute monarchy with a democratic republic, an explicitly Islamic ethos with staunch secularism, a fractured and inefficient administrative system with a centralised bureaucracy, and an agrarian economy with an increasingly urban and industrial society. For Turkey, Ataturk was the equivalent of the Pilgrim Fathers, George Washington and Henry Ford all rolled into one.Astonishingly enough, it worked. Ataturk’s creation has not only survived but thrived. The remnants of a tattered empire have become an important country by any measure, with the world’s 17th-largest population as well as economy. Its armed forces are the second-largest in NATO. It exports everything from T-shirts to F-16 fighters, not to mention workers by the million. It has football teams that can challenge the best in Europe, and an airline that flies all over the world. For decades, Turkey has managed to preserve-albeit with the occasional interruption-both a vibrant economy and a functioning democracy.” (The Economist June 8th, 2000)

One can easily state that Ataturk had achieved the military successes of George Washington, the political savvy of John Adams along the qualities of a Renaissance man such as Jefferson, all of it within less than twentyfive years. Nevertheless, this is an important work that, hopefully, may stimulate further evaluation of Ataturk, who, it may be useful to mention,had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the then greek prime minister Elefterios Venizelos, once his foe..

Not withstanding his deprecators acting on misinformation and personal hatred, he deserves to be placed among the greatest achievers of the 20th century..