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| Journals: 1952-2000 | 
 enlarge | Author: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy Used: $3.24
You Save: $36.76 (92%)
New (51) Used (48) Collectible (3) from $3.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 44455
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 928
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 1594201420
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.91092
EAN: 9781594201424
ASIN: 1594201420
Publication Date: October 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Ex-Library with usual stamps, stickers & markings.Pages are clean & unmarked.
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| Customer Reviews:
 An absorbing, well-written - and unflattering - journal... December 30, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917 - 2007) is arguably the most prominent historian to come from the World War Two "GI" generation. The son of a distinguished Harvard historian, Schlesinger never earned a PhD, yet he still became the leading liberal historian of his era. He earned two pulitzer prizes and numerous other literary awards, but his prominence came from his activities as a leading intellectual voice for the New Deal, New Frontier, Great Society-type liberalism that dominated the Democratic Party from Franklin Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson. In the 1950's Schlesinger became a speechwriter and confidant to Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956. In 1960 he angered many of his liberal admirers when he effortlessly switched from Stevenson to John F. Kennedy, whose liberal credentials were then suspect. When JFK was elected, he appointed Schlesinger as the first White House "Historian-In-Residence", and Schlesinger reached the peak of his power and influence in Democratic and intellectual circles. He energetically defended the Kennedy brothers from all critics, attended Bobby Kennedy's famous pool parties, and also found time to write theater and movie reviews and hobnob with Hollywood celebrities and famed novelists and artists. When JFK was assassinated Schlesinger - who despised Lyndon Johnson despite sharing his liberal views - left the White House. He then spent the rest of his career defending the Kennedy "legacy" from a growing number of critics, advising Bobby Kennedy during his tragic 1968 presidential bid, and loathing Richard Nixon, (surprisingly) Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. He never found the time to finish his most respected academic work - the multivolume "Age of Roosevelt" series. In 2006, his health failing, Schlesinger asked two of his sons to edit and publish his massive journals, which he had kept since 1952.
Schlesinger is a fine writer, and his journals are no exception. Schlesinger describes in perceptive, witty - and at times acerbic detail - his encounters with famous politicians, movie stars, and other celebrities over a half-century. Schlesinger doesn't pull any punches, and he doesn't hesitate to criticize (sometimes harshly) those people he dislikes (Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, etc.) and he also goes to great lengths to excuse those people he admires, such as all three of the Kennedy brothers. It's absorbing in a catty, gossip-style way (and in fact this book is filled with tidbits of celebrity gossip), but I must confess that it doesn't present a very flattering picture of its author. Although he was an outspoken liberal and advocate for the poor and downtrodden, Schlesinger spends remarkably little time in his journal entries discussing them; instead he is obsessed with hobnobbing with what used to be called "high-cafe society" in the New York-New England-Washington axis. In many pages he comes off as a condescending snob, and after finishing this book one gets the impression that the only "liberals" Schlesinger cared for were men who had been raised or educated in the Northeastern US and were graduates of Ivy League schools. For Schlesinger, a politician's pedigree and personal style were at least as important as their political views. Naturally, conservatives and Republicans in general are disdained by Schlesinger in his journals, but many liberals reading this memoir will be surprised to note Schlesinger's generally low opinion of liberal icons such as Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, and Jimmy Carter, just to name a few. Even Adlai Stevenson, his old boss, comes in for a bit of Schlesinger condescension. Only the Kennedys, Franklin Roosevelt, and a few other well-born patrician liberals tend to escape Schlesinger's acid pen. From reading this book, the impression one gets is that his idea of "liberalism" was one in which an Ivy League-educated elite, based in the Northeast, would control the government and benevolently manage a welfare state to help the poorer classes, who would then gratefully give their votes to the elite to keep them in power. As an admirer of Hubert Humphrey, I was particularly struck by Schlesinger's harsh judgement of Humphrey following the Senator's death in 1978; Schlesinger wrote that "I doubt that history will make much of him...he always faded in the crunch...(and) I do not feel that the history of the last thirty years would have been much different" had Humphrey never been in the U.S. Senate! This about a man who stood up for civil rights when few other politicians (including the Kennedys) were willing to do so, and endured years of harsh treatment by the Southern segregationists who ran the Senate because of his views on civil rights. It was Humphrey who proposed the Peace Corps to John Kennedy, and it was Humphrey who played a key role in the passage of the historic Civil Rights legislation in the 1960's. But, of course, Humphrey wasn't from the Northeast and didn't go to an Ivy League school, so he wasn't Schlesinger's kind of "liberal". In the end, I left this book feeling that, while Schlesinger was a fine writer with an eye for the interesting anecdote, as a person he was often snooty, petty, and surprisingly mean-spirited. I recommend this book for the interesting stories, but as for the man, well, let's just say that Schlesinger wasn't my kind of liberal.
 Witness to (1/2) a Century October 20, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is exceptional. If there is any complaint, it would be that at 800(+) pages, it's actually NOT long enough! Schlesinger appears to have known everyone in the world of politics (as well as many on the fringes of that world) during the second half of the twentieth century. He's kind but fair minded to many he clearly admired (JFK, RKF, the Harrimans, Marietta Tree) and duly unkind to those he did not (Pat Moynihan, Joan Didion [they made up], Jimmy Carter [surprise!], Nixon [no surprise there]). It's impossible to criticize Schlesinger for focusing on the rich and famous as that was his world! Yes, he's dishy and sometimes a tad disingenuous (he claims not knowing why or how Joan Rivers is famous, while clearly relishing lunching with the likes of Bianca Jagger!?!), but there's also plenty of insight into what was really going on in Washington during the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. From the Cuban missle crisis and the civil rights movement to Watergate and Monicagate, Schlesinger participated, witnessed or was consulted on much of it.
Insights to an Age October 9, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
A book that will be of greatest interest to those with a political bent of mind and who are old enough to have lived through most of the last half of the past century. Professor Schlesinger was a charter member of the Boston-New York-Washington tribe of liberal politicians and cultural celebrities, and his journal details the movement over decades of this tightly inbred circle.
For general readers, the failure of the editors to provide short biographical notes on the many people mentioned (all well known in their day) will undermine a complete understanding of the journal entries. I think many of these names will draw blanks from all who are not already well informed of the times and circles beginning referred to by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. For example, a nice comparison of Al Gore, Jr. to Henry Wallace doesn't mean much without knowledge of who Wallace was in the scheme of things.
Over a long life, Professor Schlesinger enjoyed history, the cut and thrust of presidential politics, artsy social events, and refined but stinging chatter over a good cocktail.
 a romp through recent policital history and culture on the back of a master October 11, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a delicious read. Schlesinger was a wise and insightful analyst of the political scene, and these journals are rich with trenchant insights, particularly focused on Democratic political leaders, their strengths and their limitations. It is also a lovely plum-cake full of gossip about celebrities from every arena. You will find yourself laughing out loud as you read one page, and crying as you turn to another. You will also be reminded of an era of great political leaders and how fine it was to have those leaders in the White House and in Congress.
great history lesson November 8, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Journals is an exceptional book- real time history, insight, gossip/ could not put it down-Schlesinger's family did a great job editing/releasing the information.
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