rugged individualism

Cultural  

1. The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. The phrase is often associated with policies of the Republican party and was widely used by the Republican president Herbert Hoover. The phrase was later used in scorn by the Democratic presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman to refer to the disasters of Hoover's administration, during which the stock market Crash of 1929 occurred and the Great Depression began.

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Example Sentences

And even if rugged individualism was his brand, he still existed in a world that defined him and which is largely left on the margins here.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

The fabric has long been shorthand for rugged individualism and the everyday workwear mythos of the American frontier — in other words, a different, portable performance of Americana.

From Salon • Aug. 22, 2025

“New Hampshire voters exude rugged individualism and flinty Yankee frugality. It’s a different situation.”

From New York Times • Jan. 17, 2024

The fantasy of rugged individualism, in other words, still reigns in Idaho.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2021

Perhaps the seeds of redemption lay not just in perseverance, hard work, and rugged individualism.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown