Mohammad Khatami The Philosopher President

Abstract

In his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 1998, Mohammad Khatami proposed to analyse the principle elements of American culture in terms of Puritan history and influence. Similarly, in an interview with CNN, he invoked Tocqueville’s Democracy in America to highlight the religious foundations of American democracy, a gesture that caused a vexatious envy among some American politicians and political pundits. In this essay the author argues that such references reflect not just Khatami’s erudition but also highlight central tenets in his political philosophy.1