Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian,

social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...

, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian

Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Sr. (; February 27, 1888 – October 30, 1965) was an American historian who taught at Harvard University, pioneering social history and urban history. He was a Progressive Era intellectual who stressed material caus ...

and a specialist in American history, much of Schlesinger's work explored the history of 20th-century

American liberalism Liberalism in the United States is a political and moral philosophy based on concepts of unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of chu ...

. In particular, his work focused on leaders such as Harry S. Truman,

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, and Robert F. Kennedy. In the 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns, he was a primary speechwriter and adviser to the Democratic presidential nominee,

Adlai Stevenson II Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was twice the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. He was the grandson of Adlai Stevenson I, the 23rd vice president of ...

. Schlesinger served as special assistant and "court historian" to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He wrote a detailed account of the Kennedy administration, from the 1960 presidential campaign to the president's state funeral, titled '' A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'', which won the 1966

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

. In 1968, Schlesinger actively supported the presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, which ended with Kennedy's assassination in Los Angeles. Schlesinger wrote a popular biography, ''Robert Kennedy and His Times'', several years later. He later popularized the term " imperial presidency" during the Nixon administration in his 1973 book of the same name.

Early life and career

Schlesinger was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and ...

, the son of Elizabeth Harriet (née Bancroft) and

Arthur M. Schlesinger Arthur Meier Schlesinger Sr. (; February 27, 1888 – October 30, 1965) was an American historian who taught at Harvard University, pioneering social history and urban history. He was a Progressive Era intellectual who stressed material caus ...

(1888–1965), who was an influential social historian at Ohio State University and Harvard University, where he directed many PhD dissertations in American history. His paternal grandfather was a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

who converted to Protestantism and then married an Austrian Catholic. His mother, a Mayflower descendant, was of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and New England ancestry, as well as a relative of historian George Bancroft, according to family tradition. His family practiced Unitarianism. Schlesinger attended the

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, New Hampshire, and received his first degree at the age of 20 from Harvard College, where he graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in 1938. After spending the 1938–1939 academic year at Peterhouse, Cambridge as a Henry Fellow, he was appointed to a three-year Junior Fellowship in the Harvard Society of Fellows in the fall of 1939. At the time, Fellows were not allowed to pursue advanced degrees, "a requirement intended to keep them off the standard academic treadmill"; as such, Schlesinger would never earn a doctorate. His fellowship was interrupted by the United States entering World War II. After failing his military medical examination, Schlesinger joined the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and othe ...

. From 1943 to 1945, he served as an intelligence analyst in the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Schlesinger's service in the OSS allowed him time to complete his first Pulitzer Prize–winning book, ''The Age of Jackson'', in 1945. From 1946 to 1954, he was an associate professor at Harvard, becoming a full professor in 1954.

Political activities before 1960

In 1947, Schlesinger, together with former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Minneapolis mayor and future Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, economist and longtime friend John Kenneth Galbraith, and Protestant theologian

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Americ ...

, founded Americans for Democratic Action. Schlesinger acted as the ADA's national chairman from 1953 to 1954. After President Harry S. Truman announced he would not run for a second full term in the 1952 presidential election, Schlesinger became the primary speechwriter for and an ardent supporter of Governor Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois. In the 1956 election, Schlesinger, along with 30-year-old Robert F. Kennedy, again worked on Stevenson's campaign staff. Schlesinger supported the nomination of Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy as Stevenson's vice-presidential running mate, but at the Democratic convention, Kennedy came second in the vice-presidential balloting, losing to Senator

Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver (; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the Senate from 1949 until his de ...

of Tennessee. Schlesinger had known John F. Kennedy since attending Harvard and increasingly socialized with Kennedy and his wife

Jacqueline Jacqueline may refer to: People * Jacqueline (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jacqueline Moore (born 1964), ring name "Jacqueline", American professional wrestler Arts and entertainment * ''Jacqueline'' (1923 film), ...

in the 1950s. In 1954, '' The Boston Post'' publisher John Fox Jr. planned a series of newspaper pieces labeling several Harvard figures, including Schlesinger, as " reds"; Kennedy intervened on Schlesinger's behalf, which Schlesinger recounted in ''A Thousand Days''. During the 1960 campaign, Schlesinger supported Kennedy, causing much consternation to Stevenson loyalists. At the time, however, Kennedy was an active candidate while Stevenson refused to run unless he was drafted at the convention. After Kennedy won the nomination, Schlesinger helped the campaign as a (sometime) speechwriter, speaker, and member of the ADA. He also wrote the book ''Kennedy or Nixon: Does It Make Any Difference?'' in which he lauded Kennedy's abilities and scorned Vice President Richard M. Nixon as having "no ideas, only methods.... He cares about winning."

Kennedy administration

After the election, the president-elect offered Schlesinger an ambassadorship and Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural Relations before Robert Kennedy proposed that Schlesinger serve as a "sort of roving reporter and troubleshooter." Schlesinger quickly accepted, and on January 30, 1961, he resigned from Harvard and was appointed Special Assistant to the President. He worked primarily on Latin American affairs and as a speechwriter during his tenure in the White House. In February 1961, Schlesinger was first told of the "Cuba operation," which would eventually become the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly f ...

. He opposed the plan in a memorandum to the president: "at one stroke you would dissipate all the extraordinary good will which has been rising toward the new Administration through the world. It would fix a malevolent image of the new Administration in the minds of millions."''A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'', Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. He, however, suggested, During the Cabinet deliberations, he "shrank into a chair at the far end of the table and listened in silence" as the Joint Chiefs and CIA representatives lobbied the president for an invasion. Along with his friend, Senator

William Fulbright James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...

, Schlesinger sent several memos to the president opposing the strike; however, during the meetings, he held back his opinion, reluctant 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." After the furor died down, Kennedy joked that Schlesinger "wrote me a memorandum that will look pretty good when he gets around to writing his book on my administration. Only he better not publish that memorandum while I'm still alive!" During the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United ...

, Schlesinger was not a member of the executive committee of the National Security Council ( EXCOMM) but helped UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson draft his presentation of the crisis to the UN Security Council. In October 1962, Schlesinger became afraid of ''"a tremendous advantage"'', which ''"all-out Soviet commitment to

cybernetics Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...

"'' would provide the Soviets. Schlesinger further warned that ''"by 1970 the USSR may have a radically new production technology, involving total enterprises or complexes of industries, managed by closed-loop, feedback control employing self-teaching computers"''. The cause was a pre-vision of an

algorithmic governance Government by algorithm (also known as algorithmic regulation, regulation by algorithms, algorithmic governance, algocratic governance, algorithmic legal order or algocracy) is an alternative form of government or social ordering, where the usa ...

of economy by an internet-like computer network authored by Soviet scientists, particularly Alexander Kharkevich. After President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Schlesinger resigned his position in January 1964. He wrote a memoir/history of the Kennedy administration, ''A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'', which won him his second Pulitzer Prize in 1965.

Later career

Arthur Schlesinger in his office, cropped

Schlesinger returned to teaching in 1966 as the Albert Schweitzer Professor of the Humanities at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...

. After his retirement from teaching in 1994, he remained an active member of the Graduate Center community as an emeritus professor until his death.

Later politics

After his service for the Kennedy administration, he continued to be a Kennedy loyalist for the rest of his life, campaigning for Robert Kennedy's tragic presidential campaign in 1968 and for Senator

Edward M. Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

in 1980. Upon the request of Robert Kennedy's widow,

Ethel Kennedy Ethel Kennedy (' Skakel; born April 11, 1928) is an American human rights advocate. She is the widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy, and the sixth child of George Skakel and Ann Brannack. Shortly ...

, he wrote the biography ''Robert Kennedy and His Times'', which was published in 1978. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he greatly criticized Richard Nixon as both a candidate and president. His prominent status as a liberal Democrat and outspoken disdain of Nixon led to his placement on the master list of Nixon's political opponents. Ironically, Nixon would become his next-door neighbor in the years following the Watergate scandal. After he retired from teaching, he remained involved in politics for the rest of his life through his books and public speaking tours. Schlesinger was a critic of the Clinton Administration, resisting President Clinton's cooptation of his "Vital Center" concept in an article for Slate in 1997. Schlesinger was also a critic of the 2003 Iraq War and called it a misadventure. He put much blame on the media for not covering a reasoned case against the war.

Personal life

Schlesinger's name at birth was Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; since his mid-teens, he had instead used the signature ''Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'' He had five children, four from his first marriage to author and artist

Marian Cannon Schlesinger Marian Cannon Schlesinger (September 13, 1912 – October 14, 2017) was an American artist and author. She published two volumes of her memoir, ''Snatched from Oblivion: A Cambridge Memoir'' and ''I Remember: A Life of Politics, Painting and Peo ...

and a son and stepson from his second marriage, to Alexandra Emmet, also an artist. * Stephen Schlesinger (b. 1942), a notable author of books on foreign affairs and former director of the World Policy Institute *Katharine Kinderman (1942–2004), an author and producer, who was married to Gibbs Kinderman and later Thomas Tiffany * Christina Schlesinger (b. 1946), a prominent artist and muralist *Andrew Schlesinger, writer and editor * Robert Schlesinger, writer and editor As a prominent Democrat and historian, Schlesinger maintained a very active social life. His wide circle of friends and associates included politicians, actors, writers, and artists, spanning several decades. Among his friends and associates were President

, Robert F. Kennedy, and

, Adlai E. Stevenson, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John Kenneth Galbraith, W. Averell and Pamela Harriman,

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and Jean Kennedy Smith, Ethel Skakel Kennedy, Ted Sorensen, Eleanor Roosevelt,

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (August 17, 1914 – August 17, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a United States congressman from New York from 1949 to 1955 and in 1963 was appointed United States Under Secre ...

Alice Roosevelt Longworth Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Lo ...

, Hubert Humphrey, Henry Kissinger,

Marietta Peabody Tree Marietta Peabody Tree (April 17, 1917 – August 15, 1991) was an American socialite and political reporter, who represented the United States on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, appointed under the administration of John F. Kenne ...

Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...

Joseph Alsop Joseph Wright Alsop V (October 10, 1910 – August 28, 1989) was an American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was an influential journalist and top insider in Washington from 1945 to the late 196 ...

, Evangeline Bruce,

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, Kurt Vonnegut,

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, Philip and Katharine Graham, Leonard Bernstein, Walter Lippmann, President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, Nelson Rockefeller, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich,

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 p ...

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McGeorge Bundy McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Foun ...

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Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...

, Richard Goodwin,

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic nom ...

, President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

Career

Education

*1933

*1938 A.B. ''summa cum laude'', Harvard University *1938–1939 Henry Fellow, Peterhouse, Cambridge *1939–1942 Society of Fellows, Harvard University

World War II service

*1942–1943

*1943–1945 Office of Strategic Services

Educator

*1946–1954 Associate Professor of History, Harvard University *1954–1962 Professor of History, Harvard University *1966 Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey *1966–1994 Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities,

(Emeritus, 1994–2007)

Democratic Party activist

*Among the founders of Americans for Democratic Action *Speechwriter for Adlai Stevenson's two presidential campaigns in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes ...

and 1956 *Speechwriter for

's campaign in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

*1961–1964 Special Assistant to the President for Latin American affairs and speechwriting *Speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy's campaign in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

*Speechwriter for

's campaign in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

*Active in the presidential campaign of

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

Death

On February 28, 2007, Schlesinger had a heart attack while dining with family at a steakhouse in Manhattan. He was taken to

New York Downtown Hospital NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital is a nonprofit, acute care, teaching hospital in New York City and is the only hospital in Lower Manhattan south of Greenwich Village. It is part of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and one ...

, where he died at the age of 89. His '' New York Times'' obituary described him as a "historian of power." He is buried in

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahm ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Works

He won a Pulitzer Prize for History in 1946 for his book ''The Age of Jackson'', covering the intellectual environment of Jacksonian democracy. His 1949 book '' The Vital Center'' made a case for the New Deal policies of

and was harshly critical of both unregulated capitalism and of those liberals such as Henry A. Wallace who advocated coexistence with communism. In his book ''The Politics of Hope'' (1962), Schlesinger terms conservatives the "party of the past" and liberals "the party of hope" and calls for overcoming the division between both parties. He won a second Pulitzer in the Biography category in 1966 for ''A Thousand Days''. His 1986 book ''The Cycles of American History,'' a collection of essays and articles, contains "The Cycles of American Politics," an early work on the topic; it was influenced by his father's work on cycles. He became a leading opponent of multiculturalism in the 1980s and articulated this stance in his book '' The Disuniting of America'' (1991). 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.

Selected bibliography

This is a partial listing of Schlesinger's published works:

Articles

"The Future of Socialism"
''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...

'', May/June 1947.
"The Crisis of American Masculinity"
''Esquire'', November 1958.
"The Many Faces of Communism, Part 1: The Theological Society"
'' Harper's Magazine'', January 1960.
"Origins of the Cold War"
''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

'', Vol. 46, No. 1, October 1967.
"Against Academic Apartheid"
'' The Social Contract'', Vol. 1, No. 1, Inaugural Issue, Fall 1990.

Books

*193
''Orestes A. Brownson: A Pilgrim's Progress''
*194
''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'' *195
''The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919–1933'' (''The Age of Roosevelt'', Vol. I)
*195
''The Coming of the New Deal: 1933–1935'' (''The Age of Roosevelt'', Vol. II)
*196
''The Politics of Upheaval: 1935–1936'' (''The Age of Roosevelt'', Vol. III)
*1960 ''Kennedy or Nixon: Does It Make Any Difference?'' *196
''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'' *196
''The Bitter Heritage: Vietnam and American Democracy, 1941–1966''
*1967 ''Congress and the Presidency: Their Role in Modern Times'' *196
''Violence: America in the Sixties''
*1969 ''The Crisis of Confidence: Ideas, Power, and Violence in America'' *197
''The Origins of the Cold War''
*1973 '' The Imperial Presidency'' – reissued in 1989 (with epilogue) and 2004 *197
''Robert Kennedy and His Times''
– adapted into a 1985 TV miniseries *1983 ''Creativity in Statecraft'' *1983 '' The Almanac of American History'' – revised edition, 2004 *1986 ''The Cycles of American History'' *1988 ''JFK Remembered'' *1988 ''War and the Constitution: Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt'' *1988 ''Cleopatra'', New York: Chelsea House, ( Hoobler, Dorothy; Hoobler, Thomas; introductory essay "On leadership" by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. ) *1990 ''Is the Cold War Over?'' *1991 '' The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society'' *2000 ''20th Century Day by Day: 100 Years Of News From January 1, 1900, to December 31, 1999'' *2000 ''A Life in the 20th Century, Innocent Beginnings, 1917–1950'' *2004 ''War and the American Presidency'' *200
''Journals 1952–2000''
*2011 ''Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F Kennedy'' (Mrs. Kennedy's interview shortly after her husband's assassination) Besides writing biographies he also wrote a foreword to a book on Vladimir Putin which came out in 2003 under the same name and was published by

Chelsea House Publishers Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...

. Schlesinger's papers will be available at the New York Public Library.

Awards

*1946 Pulitzer Prize for History – ''The Age of Jackson'' *1955 Elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

*1958

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

– ''The Crisis of the Old Order'' *1958

Francis Parkman Prize The Francis Parkman Prize, named after Francis Parkman, is awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in American history each year. Its purpose is to promote literary distinction in historical writing. The Society of American ...

– ''The Crisis of the Old Order'' *1966 National Book Award in History and Biography – ''A Thousand Days'' *1966

Pulitzer Prize for Biography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

– ''A Thousand Days'' *1978 Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

*1979 National Book Award in Biography – ''Robert Kennedy and His Times'' *1987 Elected member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

*1998

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the huma ...

*2003 Four Freedoms Award *2006 Paul Peck Award *200
Niebuhr Medal
Awarded by

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July 1, 2020. Hist ...

to an individual who exemplifies the ideals of Reinhold and

H. Richard Niebuhr Helmut Richard Niebuhr (September 3, 1894 – July 5, 1962) is considered one of the most important Christian theological ethicists in 20th-century America, best known for his 1951 book ''Christ and Culture'' and his posthumously published book ...

. Schlesinger was greatly influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Footnotes

External links

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. papers 1922–2007
held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library *
''In Depth'' interview with Schlesinger, December 3, 2000
* Eisler, Kim.

, ''Washingtonian'', March 6, 2008.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and "court philosopher" of the Kennedy administration was 89 when he died.

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. 1917 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American cultural critics American people of Austrian descent American people of English descent American people of German-Jewish descent American Unitarians Cold War historians Critics of multiculturalism Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Historians of the United States Kennedy administration personnel Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters National Book Award winners National Humanities Medal recipients New York (state) Democrats People of the Office of Strategic Services People of the United States Office of War Information Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Bancroft Prize winners Pulitzer Prize for History winners Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Harvard College alumni Harvard Fellows Harvard University faculty Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery Social critics World War II spies for the United States The Century Foundation 20th-century American male writers Presidents of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Members of the American Philosophical Society