Posted on 02/28/2007 9:11:50 PM PST by lunarbicep
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., the historian whose more than 20 books shaped discussions for two generations about America’s past, and who himself was a provocative, unabashedly liberal partisan, most notably in serving in the Kennedy White House, died last night in Manhattan. He was 89.
The cause was a heart attack, said Mr. Schlesinger’s son Stephen. He died at New York Downtown Hospital after being stricken in a restaurant.
Twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Mr. Schlesinger exhaustively examined the administrations of two prominent presidents, Andrew Jackson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, against a vast background of regional and economic rivalries. He strongly argued that strong individuals like Jackson and Roosevelt could bend history.
The notes he took for President John F. Kennedy to use in writing his own history, became, after the president’s assassination, grist for Mr. Schlesinger’s own “A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House,” winner of both the Pulitzer and a National Book Award in 1966.
His 1978 book on the president’s brother, “Robert Kennedy and His Times,” lauded the subject as the most politically creative man of his time, but acknowledged that Robert had played a larger role in trying to overthrow Castro than the author had acknowledged in “A Thousand Days.”
Mr. Schlesinger worked on both brothers’ presidential campaigns, and some critics suggested he had trouble separating history from sentiment. Gore Vidal called “A Thousand Days” a political novel, and many noted that the book ignored the president’s sexual wanderings. Others were unhappy he told so much, particularly taking the unusual step of claiming that the president was unhappy with his secretary of state, Dean Rusk.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
May he rest in peace. One of the keepers of Kennedy's Camelot - which has fallen on hard times in recent years.
Longtime Kennedy lapdog--one of the most un-objective historians ever. I cannot count how many lies he told for that ill-fated clan over the decades.
Molly Ivins (and I'm sure Schlesinger Jr) get accolades, but Rudy (aka Rooty) gets bashed.
Yeah, but the first two had to die before anybody here spoke of them in other than blistering tones. I recall a lot of Molly-bashing right up until she bit the schnitzel. I'm sure when Rudy kicks the bucket he'll get lauded too.
People here have taste (for the most part) and refuse to speak ill of the dead -- we all recognize our humanity in the mortality of others.
Shared thoughts. Bravo.
yes, he was
Yes, Schlesinger was an arrogant jerk, virtually the embodiment of the old liberal establishment. It's rather pleasant to think that the new, even more liberal establishment (in the form of Professor Gates, for instance) bit him in the ass for not being far left enough.
There is no reason not to speak ill of the departed, even if they've just died. This is when people (a few people) are paying attention to Arthur Schlesinger, so let's have the truth, not pious tears for a man who I doubt ever shed a tear for any (real) conservative.
To put it mildly. Literary whore. Ghostwriter of "Profiles in Courage."
He was part of what I think of as the real "60s" generation, not the children and the teens that some freepers think of as the 60s generation.
I think in terms of the history and the figures of that history, that gave us post WWII America, the teachers unions, affirmative action, unlimited third world immigration, a destructive supreme court, unionized government employees,anti-American multi culturalism, feminism,the homeless creating legislation of 1963 etc.
I won't miss Schlesinger, or the mythology that he helped create.
That's certainly true. An unabashed liberal is not a Hitler or Stalin. As if anyone would disagree.
I would definitely endorse your comment that a man should not be trashed "at the time of his death just because of political disagreements." However, my beef with Schlesinger wasn't that he was a liberal, but that he was a very arrogant and dishonest liberal. And we should take EVERY opportunity to expose such people.
This is yet another example, however small, of conservatives giving the game away because they play by excessively strict rules. It's no good bringing a knife to a gun fight.
That was Ted Sorensen.
Good point. Whatever his (few) beefs with contemporary liberalism, it was his generation of liberals who were largely, though not completely, responsible for all ths crap you mention. The hell with Schlesinger. Let's have the truth about him, not expressions of regret for the death (at 89) of a man most of these posters probably know almost nothing about.
God rest his soul, he has a lot to answer for.
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