Richard E. Neustadt, Harvard presidential scholar and historian dies

Yahoo

[sonsofliberty2000]

Richard E. Neustadt, the noted presidential scholar and historian, has died, a spokesman from the Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government says.

[Doctor Raoul]

Al Franken was a Harvard Scholar too. I hear he wrote a book while at Harvard that had the "F-word" in a few chapter titles.

Guess being a Harvard Scholar isn't worth much anymore.

[sonsofliberty2000]

Political Scholar Richard Neustadt Dies

By BIPASHA RAY, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - Richard E. Neustadt, the noted presidential adviser, scholar and historian who was a "founding father" of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, has died, the school's dean said Saturday. He was 84.

Neustadt died in England on Friday, Dean Joseph Nye said.

"He was certainly one of our most valuable emeritus professors," Nye said. "He provided students with an understanding of American presidency, greater than any other faculty member could have, from his direct experience and from his books."

A former adviser to Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, Neustadt also wrote many books on the U.S. presidency, including "Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership," which offered his insight into government decision-making.

That book, first published in 1960, became a staple of courses in presidential leadership and still is widely used in college classrooms across the country, Nye said.

"Kennedy held him, as his personal adviser, as well as the book, in high regard," Nye said.

Neustadt, one of the "founding fathers" of the Kennedy School in the 1960s, taught there for more than two decades, Nye said. He became professor emeritus in 1989.

"He was widely admired and deeply loved by many people at the school," Nye said. "He left a lasting legacy."

Neustadt lived in London most of the year with his wife, Shirley Williams, the leader of the Social Democratic Party in England's House of Lords, Nye said. They own a house in Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, and Neustadt visited often to lecture at Harvard.

Neustadt was born on June 26, 1919, in New York City. A Navy veteran, he received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard.

He was a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award from the American Political Science Association in 1961. Last year, he was awarded the first award for portrayal of the U.S. presidency from the Smithsonian Institution (news - web sites)'s National Portrait Gallery.

"Professor Neustadt spent a lifetime advancing the public understanding of the American presidency," former President Clinton (news - web sites) said in a statement. "I am grateful for the friendship and wise counsel he gave to me."