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

A microbe revealed the lie of rugged individualism.

From Scientific American

“This country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.”

From Seattle Times

It identified a new collective and anesthetizing ethos in America, the onetime supposed bastion of rugged individualism.

From New York Times

But the fairy tale of "rugged individualism" still has great influence over American public policy.

From Salon

But in a part of the country mythologized for its rugged individualism, going it alone will be a recipe for disaster, climate experts say.

From Los Angeles Times