H. Stuart Hughes
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Henry Stuart Hughes (1916–1999) was an American
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
,
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
, and
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
. He advocated the application of
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
to history.


Early life

Hughes was born on May 16, 1916, in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the son of Marjory Bruce Stuart and
Charles Evans Hughes Jr. Charles Evans Hughes Jr. (November 30, 1889 – January 21, 1950) was the United States Solicitor General from 1929 to 1930. He was the son of Supreme Court chief justice Charles Evans Hughes. Early life Hughes was born in New York City on Nov ...
He was the grandson of Chief Justice of the United States
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, the
1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
nominee for
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, and claimed in his memoirs to have been used as a "campaign baby" as an infant. His father left for
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
while Stuart was still an infant, returning a year later when his son was three. Stuart was his parents' second child and second son, born 14 months after his elder brother, Charles Evans Hughes III. Two daughters were born later. In 1922, Hughes's family moved to
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
Riverdale, Bronx Riverdale is a residential neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Riverdale, which had a population of 47,850 as of the 2000 United States Census, contains the city's northernmost point, at the College ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, where he spent most of his childhood. This was interrupted in early 1929, when Hughes's father was appointed
United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...
by the new President,
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
. The family's stay in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, was relatively brief; Charles Hughes Jr. was compelled to resign as Solicitor General when his father was appointed Chief Justice of the United States upon the death of
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
in 1930. He moved his family back to New York. Stuart was soon sent to
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
at
Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...
. He then attended
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
from 1933 to 1937. While in college, Hughes spent two summers in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in summer study programs, which were to serve him in good stead later.


Early career

Hughes then attended
graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he wrote his thesis, ''The Crisis of the Imperial French Economy, 1810–1812''. He was in Paris working on his thesis when
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
started on September 1, 1939. Hughes soon returned to Cambridge. With his new
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
, Hughes was appointed a junior faculty member at
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. He remained there only briefly before enlisting in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
as a private. The army soon recognized that a historian who was fluent in French and German would be of more use in
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
than in the
field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...
. Soon after the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
, he was commissioned as an officer, initially as a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
, in what was soon to become the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
. During the war, he served as an intelligence analyst whose work was generally well received, despite his association with political views that were, especially in the context of the United States military establishment of the time, decidedly
left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
. Hughes, by then a
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
, was honorably discharged from active duty in 1946 and was soon reassigned as a civilian intelligence analyst, returning to Europe. In this role, he befriended the pioneering
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
official
Ralph Bunche Ralph Johnson Bunche (; August 7, 1904 – December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist, diplomat, and leading actor in the mid-20th-century decolonization process and US civil rights movement, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize f ...
. In the State Department, Hughes bemoaned the rise of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
mentality. In late 1947, he left to return to Harvard as an instructor and as the associate director of its new
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n Research Center. However, Hughes felt that he unwittingly sabotaged his career there by his early support for former
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Henry Wallace for President in
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
. In 1950, Hughes married Suzanne Rufenacht, a member of a wealthy and influential
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
family. Failing to be published as a historian at a level sufficient to allow him to be promoted at Harvard at that time, and somewhat ostracized for his activism, Hughes left Harvard for
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in 1952, at the height of the
McCarthy McCarthy (also spelled MacCarthy or McCarty) may refer to: * MacCarthy, a Gaelic Irish clan * McCarthy, Alaska, United States * McCarty, Missouri, United States * McCarthy Road, a road in Alaska * McCarthy (band), an indie pop band * Château MacC ...
era.


Acclaim and activism

While in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Hughes published at a level sufficient to encourage Harvard to recall him, in 1957. During his second stay at Harvard, Hughes became involved with SANE (then the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, now Peace Action). Early in this period, he also engaged in a series of debates with a young Harvard professor of government,
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
. In
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
, Hughes filed as an independent candidate for the final two years of the unexpired
US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
term of President
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 ...
. The major-party candidates were the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
members Edward M. Kennedy (the President's youngest brother) and Eddie McCormack (a nephew of the
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
) and the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
George C. Lodge George Cabot Lodge II (born July 7, 1927) is an American professor and former politician. In 1962, he was the Republican nominee for a special election to succeed John F. Kennedy in the United States Senate, but was defeated by Ted Kennedy. He wa ...
. Hughes collected well over the 72,000 signatures then required under Massachusetts law for placement on the ballot as an independent candidate; the September Democratic
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
eliminated McCormack from further contention. For most of the campaign, Hughes was taken seriously, even engaging in two televised debates with Lodge. (Kennedy, by then an overwhelming favorite, declined to participate.) Any chance that Hughes might have had of winning the election or even receiving widespread support was destroyed in the aftermath of 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 S ...
, only weeks before the election, in which the President and his brother
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...
took the nation "to the brink" of nuclear confrontation with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. A candidate favoring
nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...
suddenly seemed unrealistic and out of touch; Hughes received less than two per cent of the vote and far fewer votes than he previously had signatures. Edward M. Kennedy won the election resoundingly and served in the seat until his death in 2009.


Support of psychoanalysis and psychohistory

As a beneficiary of it, Hughes saw the value of
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
. His widow, Judith Hughes, is a European historian and psychoanalyst. In the words of his wife, he "could not have lived the life he did, at least the last 40-plus years of it, without benefit of psychoanalysis." As a historian Hughes saw enormous value of the
Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
world view applied to history. In ''Gentleman Rebel'' he reported being close to his Harvard colleague
Erik Erikson Erik Homburger Erikson (born Erik Salomonsen; 15 June 1902 – 12 May 1994) was a German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychological development of human beings. He coined the phrase identity cr ...
and serving in the "supporting cast" of psychohistory. When Richard Schoenwald established the first
psychohistory Psychohistory is an amalgam of psychology, history, and related social sciences and the humanities. Its proponents claim to examine the "why" of history, especially the difference between stated intention and actual behavior. Psychobiography, chil ...
newsletter (the predecessor to ''The Psychohistory Review''), Hughes made serious contributions and encouraged the new and bold direction of the publication. An important bibliographer of psychohistory, William Gilmore, calls "History and Psychoanalysis: The Explanation of Motive," in Hughes' book, ''History as Art and as Science'' (1964), an indispensable "classic" and "must reading."Gilmore, William (1984). ''Psychohistorical Inquiry: A Comprehensive Research Bibliography''. p. 44. Hughes's memoirs are particularly revealing, as he does not begin his account with any mention of his distinguished family, but instead with a question from his psychoanalyst, Avery Weisman.


Later career

Early in 1963, Hughes and Suzanne filed for divorce. In the fall of 1963, Hughes agreed to become co-chairman of the SANE organization, alongside renowned
pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
and fellow activist
Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copie ...
. In March 1964, Hughes married his second wife, Judy, whom he initially had met as one of his graduate school students. As SANE expanded its anti-nuclear activities to include anti-
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
activism, Hughes was branded by the State Department's Passport Office as a potential subversive. He also found himself in an increasingly isolated position on the Harvard faculty, opposed to both the Vietnam War and also many of the actions that began to be taken in opposition to it. Hughes, however, served as the sole chairman of SANE from 1967 to 1970 after Spock resigned his co-chairmanship. Hughes also became associated with male support for
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. In part, this seems to have been prompted by his perception of academic discrimination against his wife after she had earned her own doctorate. It was this discrimination that, in large measure, seems to have led to the Hugheses' departure from Harvard for the
University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
; unlike his first departure from Harvard, it could not now be linked to any failure to have been sufficiently published. They moved to
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
in 1975; Hughes taught at UCSD until taking
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
status in 1989 and died in
La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...
, a section of San Diego and site of the UCSD campus, following a protracted illness, on October 21, 1999.


Books by H. Stuart Hughes

*''An Essay for Our Times'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950. . *''Oswald Spengler: A Critical Estimate'', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952. . *''The United States and Italy''. Cambridge: Harvard Press, 1953. . *''Consciousness and Society: The Reorientation of European Social Thought''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958. . *''Contemporary Europe: A History''. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1961. . *''An Approach to Peace, and Other Essays''. Atheneum, 1962.
ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She beg ...
B0007DFG2V. *''History as Art and as Science: Twin Vistas on the Past'', New York: Harper & Row, 1964. *''The Obstructed Path: French Social Thought in the Years of Desperation 1930-1960'', New York: Harper & Row, 1968. *''The Sea Change: The Migration of Social Thought, 1930-1965'', New York: Harper & Row, 1975. *''Prisoners of Hope: The Silver Age of the Italian Jews, 1924–1974''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983. . *''Between Commitment and Disillusion'', 1987, comprising two earlier works (and with a new introduction): : ''The Obstructed Path'', 1968, and ''The Sea Change'', 1975; Wesleyan University Press, 1987 c 0-8195-6193-2 b *''Sophisticated Rebels: The Political Culture of European Dissent, 1968–1987'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988. . *''Gentleman Rebel: The Memoirs of H. Stuart Hughes'', New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1990. . A memoir. Note: ISBNs referenced are to editions currently available and may not be the same as the ISBNs assigned to the first editions of his works.


References

;Sources *''Harvard Magazine'', November–December 2004 *Cohen, Joel I. ''Hughes for Senate, 1962: A campaign history'' (ASIN B007EVEIG)


External links


Henry Stuart Hughes Papers (MS 1446).
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, H. Stuart 1916 births 1999 deaths Amherst College alumni Harvard University alumni Brown University faculty Harvard University faculty Stanford University Department of History faculty United States Army personnel of World War II American anti-war activists People from the Bronx People from Riverdale, Bronx United States Army officers Deerfield Academy alumni Male feminists Massachusetts Independents 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Activists from New York (state) Activists from California Historians from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers Charles Evans Hughes family