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

The technology Egli’s group used, called base editing, allows them to target individual DNA letters in sequences more precisely with fewer adverse effects.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

The Film Workers group accused Paramount of misrepresenting the intent of its pledge, saying it did not target individual filmmakers.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2025

It should be stressed that it is not the intention of the union to target individual children or families - it is about putting pressure on politicians.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2023

Some of the suits target individual members of the family, who deny wrongdoing.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 5, 2019

Yet malicious hackers have little incentive to target individual PCs when they can instead attack databases in which millions of consumers’ personal records are collected.

From Slate • Mar. 16, 2015