Changes

His Christian pessimism continued after 1945 and led him to support US efforts to confront Soviet communism around the world.  

His Christian pessimism continued after 1945 and led him to support US efforts to confront Soviet communism around the world.  

Niebuhr's perspective had a great impact on many liberals, who came to support a "realist" foreign policy.  He is a favorite thinker of both [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Barack Hussein Obama]].<ref>Frank A. Ruechel, "Politics And Morality Revisited: Jimmy Carter and Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Atlanta History'' 1994 37(4): 19-31; also [http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14256 "Reinhold Niebuhr is Unseen Force in 2008 Elections"], September 27, 2007, Benedicta Cipolla, ''Religion News Service'' of the ''Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life'' </ref>.   

Niebuhr's perspective had a great impact on many liberals, who came to support a "realist" foreign policy.  He is a favorite thinker of both [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]], as well as [[John McCain]]<ref>Frank A. Ruechel, "Politics And Morality Revisited: Jimmy Carter and Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Atlanta History'' 1994 37(4): 19-31;   John McCain, ''Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them‎'' (2007) pp 321-38;  also [http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14256 "Reinhold Niebuhr is Unseen Force in 2008 Elections"], September 27, 2007, Benedicta Cipolla, ''Religion News Service'' of the ''Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life'' </ref>.   

Niebuhr did battle with the liberals over what he called their naïve views of sin and the optimism of the social gospel. He did battle with the conservatives over what he viewed as their naïve view of Scripture and their narrow definition of "true religion." He was a leader of liberal intellectuals and supported many liberal causes, but his ideas were often too orthodox for secular liberals, while his view that the Bible could not be taken literally was too liberal for the Fundamentalists. Thus he was too secular for many of the religious and too religious for the secular, but just right for those who appreciated the irony of history.

Niebuhr did battle with the liberals over what he called their naïve views of sin and the optimism of the social gospel. He did battle with the conservatives over what he viewed as their naïve view of Scripture and their narrow definition of "true religion." He was a leader of liberal intellectuals and supported many liberal causes, but his ideas were often too orthodox for secular liberals, while his view that the Bible could not be taken literally was too liberal for the Fundamentalists. Thus he was too secular for many of the religious and too religious for the secular, but just right for those who appreciated the irony of history.