H. L. Mencken

American journalist, critic, and social commentator — 'the Sage of Baltimore' — who wrote The American Language and dozens of cultural critiques, and who was responsible for introducing Nietzsche's philosophy to American readers through his 1908 study.

Introduced Nietzsche to the American reading public — his 1908 book The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche was the first English-language study — and his acid social commentary (the Scopes Trial, the 'booboisie') made him the most important American critic of democracy's cultural mediocrity.