Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America

John Patrick Diggins examines how Mussolini fascinated Americans in the 1920s and early 1930s, portraying him as a strong leader admired by the press, business leaders, and even compared to American founding fathers.

The book reveals initial enthusiasm from U.S.

media like The New York Times and The Saturday Evening Post, support from Wall Street figures, and contrasts this with shifting views amid Mussolini's alliance with Hitler and the Ethiopian War, highlighting complexities for Italian-Americans and America's own political assumptions.