This article investigates the reason for Reinhold Niebuhr’s rise to prominence as a pub- lic intellectual; it considers first the nature of Niebuhr’s success before then arguing that the rhetorical style of his sermons and lectures, the polemical style of his journal- ism and his political activism were major factors in his rise. What is suggested in the article is that Niebuhr constructed himself as a political figure and that this was crucial in his rise to prominence.