Leo Strauss, a refugee from Nazi Germany who arrived in the United States in 1937, was trained in the history of political philosophy, and became one of the foremost conservative émigré scholars. He taught at the University of Chicago.

He was widely known for his argument that the works of ancient philosophers contain deliberately concealed esoteric meanings whose truths can be comprehended only by a very few, and would be misunderstood by the masses. This has come to be known as the hidden meaning thesis. Similar arguments hae been made by Hakim Bey regarding Chinese writings associated with Tongs.

Versus democracy

Other elements of the philosophy of Strauss are controversial with ideals that seem to go contrary to democracy. According to an analysis by Jim Lobe for the Inter Press Service News Agency, Strauss believed the world to be a place where policy advisers may have to deceive their own publics and even their rulers in order to protect their countries.