Schlesinger: The Imperial Historian

by Richard Aldous

Overview

The first major biography of preeminent historian and intellectual Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a defining figure in Kennedy’s White House.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917–2007), known today as the architect of John F. Kennedy’s presidential legacy, blazed an extraordinary path from Harvard University to wartime London to the West Wing. The son of a pioneering historian—and a two-time Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner in his own right—Schlesinger redefined the art of presidential biography. A Thousand Days, his best-selling and immensely influential record of the Kennedy administration, cemented Schlesinger’s place as one of the nation’s greatest political image makers and a key figure of the American intellectual elite—a peer and contemporary of Reinhold Niebuhr, Isaiah Berlin, and Adlai Stevenson.

The first major biography of this defining figure in Kennedy’s Camelot, Schlesinger: The Imperial Historian presents a dramatic life and career set against the backdrop of the American Century. Biographer Richard Aldous draws on oral history, rarely seen archival documents, and the official Schlesinger papers to craft a portrait of the incandescently brilliant and controversial historian who framed America’s ascent to global empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393244700
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/10/2017
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Richard Aldous is a professor of history at Bard College, where he holds the Eugene Meyer Chair. He is the author and editor of eleven books and is a contributor to television and radio on both sides of the Atlantic. Aldous’s writing appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Book Review, and The American Interest, where he is a contributing editor. He lives in Red Hook, New York.

Editorial Reviews

[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.] has found in Richard Aldous an agreeably judicious biographer…Aldous gracefully balances an appreciation for his subject's talents as a writer of narratives and speeches with an acknowledgment of his shortcomings as a political analyst and aide.

The New York Times Book Review - Michael Kazin

★ 08/21/2017
Writing in a lively, incisive style worthy of his subject, Aldous (Reagan and Thatcher), a professor of history at Bard College, documents the life and work of Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1917–2007), the liberal historian who championed the progressive tradition in American politics. Like his eminent historian father, the son became a professor at Harvard, where he made his scholarly reputation with the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Age of Jackson. He soon moved beyond the academy into politics, writing speeches for notable Democrats, most famously John F. Kennedy during the then-senator’s presidential run. The central chapters on Schlesinger’s role in the Kennedy White House, where his advice wasn’t always welcomed, and his composition of A Thousand Days, his tribute to the late president, are models of dramatic historical exposition. Aldous also touches on Schlesinger’s rivalry with fellow speechwriter Ted Sorensen. Readers learn only as much as they need to know about Schlesinger’s relationships with his parents, his two wives, and his five children. Whatever one’s opinion of Schlesinger as a political thinker, few will dispute Aldous’s concluding assessment of him “as one of the finest narrative historians America has ever produced.” It’s a judicious, balanced account that focuses on the high points of Schlesinger’s career. Agent: Georgina Capel, Georgina Capel Associates. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"[A] convincing portrait, rendered with skill and sensitivity, sympathetic toward its subject while capturing the quirks that made him, in the words of one contemporary, ‘so Arthurish.’"

The Washington Post

"[A] compellingly narrated and well-researched biography."

The Nation

"[A] very readable distillation of a long and fruitful life."

The Atlantic

"Aldous writes with a verve and clarity that matches Schlesinger’s ... his book is likely to long endure as the standard work on its gifted title character."

The Weekly Standard - James M. Banner

"[A] judicious, balanced account that focuses on the high points of Schlesinger’s career."

Publisher’s Weekly - starred review

"As a biographer, Mr. Aldous’s prose is cool and even-handed. ... [Schlesinger] is especially good on the inner conflicts of presidential politics."

The Wall Street Journal

"A provocative and definitive account of a man of great achievement and charm who looms over nearly a century of the history that he himself so meticulously recorded. A great read—and an absorbing, essential book."

Mark Danner

"Aldous’s absorbing biography will surely be the definitive account of the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.. Schlesinger was often accused of writing hagiography, but Aldous deftly avoids a similar charge. While clearly admiring of his subject, Aldous is thoughtful and insightful, and at times critical."

Times Literary Supplement - Andrew Preston

"In his marvelous, moving, and unsparing Schlesinger, Aldous brings us the brilliant, ambitious, colorful, sometimes maddening Schlesinger in full flower—with all of his stunning professional triumphs and glaring personal failures. A noteworthy achievement."

Lawrence J. Haas

"In this elegant biography, Richard Aldous reveals the fascinating story of the ‘knee-pants genius’ who won his first Pulitzer Prize at the age of twenty-eight and went on to become the Kennedys’ court historian. Aldous presents an intimate portrait of a man of thought and a man of action living at the ‘vital center’ of Cold War America.”"

David Reynolds David Reynolds

"[Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.] has found in Aldous an agreeably judicious biographer. … Aldous gracefully balances an appreciation for his subject’s talents as a writer of narratives and speeches with an acknowledgment of his shortcomings as a political analyst and aide."

The New York Times Book Review

"Richard Aldous’s Schlesinger is a deeply researched and skillfully written biography of a brilliant, scheming, perceptive and highly-partisan figure who believed in writing “useful history” to promote liberal causes and hoped to affect history by his own participation in American politics."

Curtis Wilkie

"The triumph of Richard Aldous’s new book is that it separates the myth from the reality, explaining both the seemingly inexorable rise of Schlesinger and how he contributed so much to the subsequent mythologising of the Kennedy era."

The Irish Times

"Aldous provides a well-researched and balanced examination of Schlesinger and his academic and political achievements."

Booklist

"In this elegant biography, Richard Aldous reveals the fascinating story of the ‘knee-pants genius’ who won his first Pulitzer Prize at the age of twenty-eight and went on to become the Kennedys’ court historian. Aldous presents an intimate portrait of a man of thought and a man of action living at the ‘vital center’ of Cold War America.”"

David Reynolds

★ 09/01/2017
Pulitzer Prize-winning author (for The Age of Jackson and A Thousand Days) and acclaimed, sometimes controversial historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1917–2007) was a political insider who embodied 20th-century liberalism. He served as a speechwriter for presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson and special adviser to President John F. Kennedy. Aldous's (history, Bard Coll.; Reagan and Thatcher) deeply researched, comprehensive biography delves into Schlesinger's career, personal life, and writings. While not denying his subject's talents, Aldous discusses how Schlesinger's academic path was smoothed by his historian father, Arthur Schlesinger Sr., with whom the son shared an often rocky relationship. Aldous is at his best when investigating the public response to Schlesinger's books. Devastated by the deaths of John and Robert Kennedy, Schlesinger devoted the rest of his life to recording their stories. Aldous effectively captures the optimistic spirit of post-World War II America as viewed through Schlesinger's experiences. VERDICT Entertaining and exhilarating, this book will appeal mostly to historians but also be enjoyed by popular history readers. See also Schlesinger's memoir, A Life in the 20th Century, for more insights into his life.—Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Library Journal

2017-06-14
An admiring portrait of a historian who made history.When he was 28, Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1917-2007) won a Pulitzer Prize for his first book, The Age of Jackson, an intellectual history of Jacksonian democracy set in a sweeping social, economic, and cultural context. Selling an astonishing 90,000 copies in its first year, it was acclaimed by many historians as "the most influential book of the postwar era" and marked the beginning of Schlesinger's illustrious career as a writer, professor, prominent liberal intellectual, and, most notably, presidential adviser to John F. Kennedy. Aldous (History/Bard Coll.; Tony Ryan: Ireland's Aviator, 2013, etc.) draws on Schlesinger's prolific publications, letters, and diaries, as well as interviews with family members and colleagues, to produce a well-paced, lively biography of a controversial figure. He was a brilliant man derided as "a court historian" for his golden portrayal of the Kennedys as well as an eyewitness to history who held firmly to the "Progressive notion that historical inquiry might promote liberal reform." A sharp analyst and outspoken adviser, Schlesinger "was both a small ‘d' democrat and a snob; his clever, ironic personality could also be waspish and peevish." The son of a historian and Harvard professor, he deferred a career in academia to go to Washington to write for Fortune magazine. There, he socialized with the Georgetown set: Joseph and Stewart Alsop, Philip Graham, Averell Harriman, Clark Clifford, and other influential men. A supporter of Adlai Stevenson, Schlesinger defected to Kennedy, although he questioned the president's commitment to liberalism. When Kennedy invited Schlesinger to join the White House staff, both men saw the advantage: as "in-house liberal" and "intellectual gadfly," Schlesinger gained a privileged position as witness, participant, and chronicler; Kennedy saw Schlesinger as a historian-in-residence who would shape and burnish his legacy. He performed that task admirably in A Thousand Days (1964). By the 1990s, identity politics and attention to diversity left his historical stance open to criticism. A solid, well-researched life of one of America's "finest narrative historians."

Kirkus Reviews