There are various ways of approaching the life of Thomas Paine, for he was a man who aroused strong feelings, both positive and negative – and still can. In Great Britain, which remains a constitutional monarchy despite Paine's best efforts, he has generally been identified as a hero by the political left and a villain by the right. It is significant that, notwithstanding the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher quoting him favourably, two leading Labour politicians, the late Michael Foot and Tony Benn, were elected presidents of the Thomas Paine Society. Its members applaud Paine for his advocacy of a republic and a welfare state. In the United States the picture has always been more ambivalent. There republicanism is not a left-wing ideology, but a political creed accepted by Democrats and Republicans alike. Presidents Reagan and Obama both quoted him in their inaugural addresses. The Republican candidate for the presidency in 2012, Mitt Romney, after winning the Florida primary, claimed that Paine was ‘reported’ to have written in the Crisis, ‘lead, follow or get out of the way’. Though the expression is not to be found in any publication by Paine, Mr Romney was acknowledging his relevance to current American politics.

While Americans admire Paine for promoting the independence of the United States, they part company over his statement in Common Sense that government is a ‘necessary evil’, the right stressing the noun and the left the adjective.