Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. in the early 1960s
Born	October 15, 1917(1917-10-15) Columbus, Ohio
Died	February 28, 2007 (aged 89) Manhattan, New York
Occupation	Historian, writer
Nationality	American
Writing period	1939 - 2006
Subjects	Politics, Social issues, History
Literary movement	American liberal theory
Debut works	Orestes A. Brownson: A Pilgrim's Progress (1939)

This article is about Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. For his father and namesake (1888-1965), see Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr..

Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr., born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger (October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007), was an American historian and social critic whose work explored the liberalism of American political leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the men who surrounded Andrew Jackson. He served as Special Assistant to the President in John F. Kennedy's administration. He wrote a detailed account of the Kennedy administration, titled A Thousand Days. Image File history File links ArthurMSchlesingerJrCalcutta. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City  212. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ... This article is about work. ... This article is about the occupation of studying history. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Sr. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... American liberalism—that is, liberalism in the United States of America—is a broad political and philosophical mindset, favoring individual liberty, and opposing restrictions on liberty, whether they come from established religion, from government regulation, from the existing class structure, or from multi-national corporations. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      Politics of the United States takes place in a framework of a presidential... FDR redirects here. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also called RFK, was one of two younger brothers of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and served as United States Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. ... For other uses, see Andrew Jackson (disambiguation). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ...

During the United States decision to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, with President Kennedy and his closest advisers, he was one of two persons who opposed the strike (other being William Fulbright); however, he sat silent -except writing a private memorandum to President- not wanting to undermine the President's desire for a unanimous decision. Following the overt failure of the invasion, Schlesinger later lamented "In the months after the Bay of Pigs, I bitterly reproached myself for having kept so silent during those crucial discussions in the cabinet room... I can only explain my failure to do more than raise a few timid questions by reporting that one's impulse to blow the whistle on this nonsense was simply undone by the circumstances of the discussion." ^{[citation needed]} James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was a well-known member of the United States Senate representing Arkansas. ...

Schlesinger was a prolific contributor to liberal theory and was a passionate and articulate voice for Kennedy-style liberalism. He was admired for his wit, scholarship, and devotion to delineating the history and nature of liberalism. Since 1990 he had been a critic of multiculturalism. Contributions to liberal theory is a partial list of individual contributions on a worldwide scale. ... The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of both cultural and ethnic diversity within the demographics of a particular social space. ...

He popularized the term "imperial presidency" during the Nixon administration by writing the book The Imperial Presidency. The Imperial Presidency is a term used from the 1960s and made popular by the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... The Imperial Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. ...

Biography

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Schlesinger was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Arthur M. Schlesinger (1888 – 1965), who was an influential social historian at Ohio State University and Harvard University.^[1] His son, Stephen Schlesinger, is a social scientist, former director of the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York City and contributor to the Huffington Post; son Robert Schlesinger and step-son Peter Allan also blogged on Huffington Post, as did Arthur Schlesinger himself. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City  212. ... Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Sr. ... For the toll-free telephone number see Toll-free telephone number Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... The Ohio State University (OSU) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Ohio. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ...

Schlesinger's name at birth was Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; his mother was Elizabeth Bancroft and the family has long assumed (without hard evidence) that there is a blood connection to America's first great historian George Bancroft. Since his mid-teens, he had instead used the signature Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (Schlesinger 2000, pp. 6-7 and 57) George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman. ...

He had six children, four from his first marriage, to author Marian Cannon, and a son and stepson from his second, to Alexandra Emmet.

Career

Education

• 1933 Phillips Exeter Academy
• 1938 Harvard University - Society of Fellows, 1939-1942; he never received a Ph.D.

Phillips Exeter Academy (most commonly called Exeter, also Phillips Exeter or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9–12, located on 619 acres[1] in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, fifty miles north of Boston. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ...

World War II service

• 1942–1943 Office of War Information
• 1943–1945 Office of Strategic Services

The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. ... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special Forces, and Navy SEALs. ...

Educator

• 1946-1961 professor of history at Harvard
• Elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1961.
• 1966 Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities at City University of New York Graduate Center - emeritus, 1994

The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an organization whose goal is to foster, assist, and sustain an interest in American literature, music, and art. ... The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: ), is the public university system of New York City. ...

Democratic activist

• Among the founders of Americans for Democratic Action
• Wrote speeches for Adlai Stevenson's two presidential campaigns in 1952 and 1956
• Wrote speeches for John F. Kennedy's campaign in 1960
• 1961-1964 Presidential special assistant for Latin American affairs and speech writer
• Wrote speeches for Robert F. Kennedy's campaign in 1968
• Wrote speeches for George McGovern's campaign in 1972
• Active in the presidential campaign of Ted Kennedy in 1980
• From May 2005 to his death, he was a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

Americans For Democratic Action (ADA) was formed in January 1947, when Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kenneth Galbraith, Reinhold Niebuhr, Hubert Humphrey and 200 other activists. ... Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician, noted for intellectual demeanor and advocacy of liberal causes in the Democratic party. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhowers two terms as President. ... Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also called RFK, was one of two younger brothers of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and served as United States Attorney General from 1961 to 1964. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... George McGovern on May 8, 1972 cover of Time Magazine George Stanley McGovern, Ph. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. ... The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, along with third party candidates, the independent John B. Anderson and Libertarian Ed Clark. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Logo of Huffington Post The Huffington Post (often referred to on the Internet as HuffPo or HuffPost) is a politically liberal online news website and aggregated weblog founded by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, featuring hyperlinks to various news sources and columnists. ...

Death

Mr. Schlesinger died on February 28, 2007, at the age of 89. According to The New York Times he experienced cardiac arrest while dining out with family members in Manhattan. The newspapers have dubbed him a "historian of power."^[2]

Writings

His 1949 book The Vital Center made a case for the New Deal policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, while harshly critical of both unregulated capitalism and of those liberals such as Henry A. Wallace who advocated coexistence with communism. The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom is a 1949 book, by Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. ... The New Deal was the title President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs) to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression. ... FDR redirects here. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the 33rd Vice President of the United States (1941–45), the 11th Secretary of Agriculture (1933–40), and the 10th Secretary of Commerce (1945–46). ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

He won a Pulitzer Prize in history for his 1945 book The Age of Jackson, and another in 1966 for A Thousand Days. The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...

His 1986 book The Cycles of American History was an early work on cycles in politics in the United States; it was influenced by his father's work on cycles.

He became a leading opponent of multiculturalism in the 1980s and articulated his position on it The Disuniting of America (1991). The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of both cultural and ethnic diversity within the demographics of a particular social space. ...

Published posthumously in 2007, Journals 1952-2000 is the 894-page distillation of 6,000 pages of Schlesinger diaries on a wide variety of subjects, edited by Andrew and Stephen Schlesinger. ^[3]

This is a list of his published works:

• 1939 Orestes A. Brownson: A Pilgrim's Progress
• 1945 The Age of Jackson
• 1949 The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom
• 1950 What About Communism?
• 1951 The General and the President, and the Future of American Foreign Policy
• 1957 The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. I)
• 1958 The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. II)
• 1960 The Politics of Upheaval: 1935-1936 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. III)
• 1960 Kennedy or Nixon: Does It Make Any Difference?
• 1963 The Politics of Hope
• 1963 Paths of American Thought (ed. with Morton White)
• 1965 A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House
• 1965 The MacArthur Controversy and American Foreign Policy
• 1967 Bitter Heritage: Vietnam and American Democracy, 1941-1966
• 1967 Congress and the Presidency: Their Role in Modern Times
• 1968 Violence: America in the Sixties
• 1969 The Crisis of Confidence: Ideas, Power, and Violence in America
• 1970 The Origins of the Cold War
• 1973 The Imperial Presidency — reissued in 1989 (with epilogue) & 2004
• 1978 Robert Kennedy and His Times
• 1983 Creativity in Statecraft
• 1986 Cycles of American History
• 1988 JFK Remembered
• 1988 War and the Constitution: Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt
• 1990 Is the Cold War Over?
• 1991 The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society
• 2000 A Life in the 20th Century, Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950
• 2004 War and the American Presidency
• 2007 Journals 1952-2000

Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom is a 1949 book, by Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Jan. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Morton White (1917 -) is an American philosopher and historian of ideas. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... The Imperial Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Awards

• 1946 Pulitzer Prize for History - The Age of Jackson
• 1965 National Book Award - A Thousand Days
• 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Biography - A Thousand Days
• 1979 National Book Award - Robert Kennedy and His Times
• 1998 National Humanities Medal
• 2003 Four Freedoms Award
• 2006 Paul Peck Award
• 2006 Niebuhr Medal Awarded by Elmhurst College to an individual who exemplifies the ideals of Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr. Schlesinger was greatly influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr.

The Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. ... The Four Freedoms Award is an annual liberal inclined award presented to those men and women who have demonstrated an achievement to the principles lined out in the Four freedoms speech president Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave to the US Congress on 6 January 1941. ... Elmhurst College was founded in 1871. ... Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was a Protestant theologian best known for his study of the task of relating the Christian faith to the reality of modern politics and diplomacy. ... Helmut Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962) was an American Christian ethicist best known for his 1951 book Christ and Culture and his 1960 book Radical Monotheism and Western Culture. ...

Quote

If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself.

Notes

WOSU are the call letters for the four stations owned and operated by The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 60th day of the year (61st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Diggins, John Patrick and Lind, Michael. The Liberal Persuasion: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and the Challenge of the American Past, Princeton University Press, 1997.
• Daniel Feller, "Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.," in Robert Allen Rutland, ed. Clio's Favorites: Leading Historians of the United States, 1945-2000 U of Missouri Press. (2000) pp 156-169.
• Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; A Life in the Twentieth Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917–1950 (2000), autobiography, vol 1.
• Saunders, Sue (2006-02-15). Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.. Biographies & Profiles. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
• Washington Post obituary
• Reference to Bay of Pigs objection
• New York Times obituary

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Hilton Kramer was critical of Schlesinger from the right in a 2001 essay [1]
• Noam Chomsky was critical of Schlesinger from the left in a 1967 article, The Responsibility of Intellectuals.
• Resources by Arthur Schlesinger available at the Carnegie Council
• Signature of Arthur Schlesinger
• Joseph Lelyveld on Schlesinger Jr.'s Journals, 1952-2000 from the New York Review of Books
• An incredible writer and a proud Liberal all his life. The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and "court philosopher" of the Kennedy administration was 89 when he died.