Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917–2007)

I really enjoyed reading the transcripts of these conversations and I'm so glad the interviews were unedited. Started to listen to the CDs but it was faster to read. It was a walk through a time capsule. I had to keep reminding myself that she was only 34 years old and her husband had been killed just four months earlier. She was remarkably composed. I found it so interesting to hear her views on JFK and the political scene and characters of the 1960s and the footnotes were wonderful in clarifying the people and situations she was referring to. It was funny in a shocking way to hear her views on male/female relationships and feminism. Mostly I loved the history both the good and the bad .... one item that jumped out was Ike's appointment (Lyman Lemnitzer) as Chairman of Joint Chiefs who approved a classified plan for the US government to commit acts of terrorism against Miami and other US cities and blame those acts on Castro. Thankfully JFK rejected it. JFK said he thought it a disgrace that there were less than 100 people in Washington working on disarmament ... and he was upset there was no proper award for civilian achievement while there were many for military achievements so he created the Medal of Freedom. Also interesting, he had no chief of staff so ideas didn't get filtered and each cabinet head had access to him. Lots of good stuff and makes me wonder how the world might have been different had he finished his term. Depressing to compare it all to political "leaders" of today.… (altro)

5790. The Cycles of American History, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (read 17 May 2022) This book, published in 1986, is the 13th book by its author I have read. It expatiates a lot about the political scene as of 1986 and hence is often not pertinent to the very different political scene as it exists today. And one knows that what the author would say about today's political scene would be darker than what he had to say about the 1986 scene. The book says lots of wise things but some I could not agree with. For instance, he spends a lot of time bemoaning the fact that the 25th Amendment permits a person, such as Jerry Ford to be president even though he was never voted on by all the nation's voters. I cannot think that is a pertinent complaint. I think the 25th Amendment worked OK in 1974 and see no need to change it. All in all the book said wisely much but it seemed far removed from the situation which confronts us today--a perilous one in my view, with so many people eager to do violence to our system of government… (altro)

Being cynical about politicians is only natural, yet sometimes someone comes along who somehow taps into our natural craving for leadership, seemingly embodying the best of our national spirit and promising a better tomorrow via their charismatic presence alone. RFK is to many people the last politician they could trust emotionally, a man of infinite compassion yet ruthless integrity, a person of infinite compassion yet ruthless integrity, someone with a prosecutor's ferocity yet a poet's sensibility. He was murdered before he could really do much to validate the immense, almost messianic hopes that people laid on him, and this biography, written by a man who knew him well, takes you through his journey from hard-edged enforcer of justice to champion of the downtrodden in a way that will leave you greatly saddened at the cruelties of history.… (altro)