The Loss of the Man who Predicted the Millennials’ Huge Impact On Politics

Bill Strauss, a truly original thinker who predicted the impact of the young Millennial Generation on politics way ahead of his time, died at the relatively young age of 60. This is a big loss and he will be missed.

Strauss heavily influenced my thinking over the years and actively participated in New Politics Institute events, as well as an NDN annual meeting. In his work with NPI and NDN, he talked about the implications of the rise of the young Millennial Generation, those now in their 20s and teens, on politics. For example, he gave a 30 minute PowerPoint talk at a 2006 NPI public event that laid out the striking parallels between the Millennials today and the GI Generation that helped propel FDR and the progressives of that era to sustained majorities.

You can see his influence in much of our work: from an early essay I wrote on The Greatest Generation Yet, to the data-rich report on The Progressive Politics of the Millennial Generation, to a multimedia talk that NPI fellow Ruy Teixeira and I did this past summer and captured on video. You can also see video of Strauss in action at the 2006 NDN annual meeting on the NPI website.

Stauss’s body of work was larger than just thinking about the Millennials. In fact, he had one of the most original and thought-provoking theories of generational change that I have ever come across. He laid it out with his coauthor Neil Howe in their 1991 book: Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. The book is still relevant today, and in fact the big ideas in there animate the next five books they wrote, including Millennials Rising.

Strauss and Howe have influenced a wide range of people, including Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, who are just about to publish their new book Millennial Makeover. I have been reading an advance copy of this book and we expect to have them involved in a NPI and NDN event in March. So people in this community will have a chance to see the ideas of Strauss live on.

Peter Leyden
Director of the New Politics Institute