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Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., RIP

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Off Topic
Posted on Thu Mar 01, 2007 at 12:43:58 PM EST
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From the NYTimes:

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.

. . . 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.

. . . In his last book, “War and the American Presidency,” published in 2004, Mr. Schlesinger challenged the foundations of the foreign policy of President Bush, calling the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath “a ghastly mess.” He said the president’s curbs on civil liberties would have the same result as similar actions throughout American history.

“We hate ourselves in the morning,” he wrote.

The discipline of American History loses one of its great practitioners. Rest in peace.

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    Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., RIP | 2 comments (2 topical)

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    Schlesinger and te Immorality of Preventive War (none / 0) (#1)
    by john horse on Fri Mar 02, 2007 at 06:10:20 AM EST
    Schlesinger wrote one of the best pieces against the invasion of Iraq and Bush's doctrine of preventive (preemptive) war, "The Immorality of Preventive War".  I would urge anyone who hasn't read it to read it.  

    Schlesinger and the Need for a New Vision for US (none / 0) (#2)
    by Gang of One on Fri Mar 02, 2007 at 01:15:06 PM EST
    Some apt words by Schlesinger that make more sense today than when written.

    http://standing-fast.blogspot.com/2007/03/arthur-schlesinger-1917-2007.html

    Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., RIP | 2 comments (2 topical)

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