Henry Fairlie
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Henry Jones Fairlie (13 January 1924, in London, England – 25 February 1990, in Washington, D.C.) was a British political journalist and social critic, known for popularizing the term "
the Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...
", an analysis of how "all the right people" came to run Britain largely through social connections. He spent 36 years as a prominent freelance writer on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', and many other papers and magazines. He was also the author of five books, most notably ''The Kennedy Promise'', an early revisionist critique of the US presidency of
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 ...
. In 2009, Yale University Press published ''Bite the Hand That Feeds You: Essays and Provocations'' (), an anthology of his work edited by ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' correspondent Jeremy McCarter.


Biography

Fairlie was born in London, the fifth of seven children in a family of Scottish descent. His father, James Fairlie, was a heavy-drinking editor on
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
; his mother, Marguerita Vernon, was the daughter of a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister. Fairlie attended Byron House and
Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...
before studying Modern History at Corpus Christi, Oxford. After taking his degree in 1945, Fairlie began his journalism career at the ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'', followed by a brief stint working for
David Astor Francis David Langhorne Astor, CH (5 March 1912 – 7 December 2001) was an English newspaper publisher, editor of ''The Observer'' at the height of its circulation and influence, and member of the Astor family, "the landlords of New York". Ea ...
at ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
''. During this time he married Lisette Todd Phillips, with whom he had a son and two daughters.


Fleet Street

In 1950, Fairlie joined the staff of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', rising at an early age to become the chief writer of its leaders on domestic politics. In 1954, he gave up the security of that post to assume the greater independence of a freelance writer, which he remained until the end of his life. As the author of the "Political Commentary" column in ''The Spectator'', first under the ''nom de plume'' "Trimmer", then under his own byline, he helped define the modern political column. In September 1955, Fairlie devoted a column to how the friends and acquaintances of
Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection in 1951 ...
and
Donald Duart Maclean Donald Duart Maclean (; 25 May 1913 – 6 March 1983) was a British diplomat who conveyed government secrets to the Soviet Union. As an undergraduate, Maclean openly proclaimed his left-wing views, and was recruited into the Soviet intelligenc ...
, two members of the Foreign Office widely believed to have defected to Moscow, tried to deflect press scrutiny from the men's families. He defined that network of prominent, well-connected people as "the Establishment", explaining: The term was quickly picked up in newspapers and magazines all over London, making Fairlie famous. The ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' cited Fairlie's column as its ''locus classicus''. However, he later determined that
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
had really been the first to use "the Establishment" in this fashion. As Fairlie became better known, his personal life grew chaotic. He drank heavily and conducted a series of extramarital affairs, including one with the wife of his friend
Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...
that nearly ended their marriage. Never responsible with money, he amassed thousands of pounds of debts. Also, in 1965, he insulted
Lady Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and pri ...
on television, which led to a libel suit against him and the
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
. That year, he visited America for the first time and fell immediately in love with the country. A few months later, he moved there for good.


America

Fairlie was an anomaly in Washington, a
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
whose unique brand of conservatism frequently left him more sympathetic to the Democrats than the
Republicans 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 ...
. These heterodox politics helped him find a perch at ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', where he was a regular contributor from the mid-1970s until his death in 1990. In the mid-1980s, when he was unable to keep up payments on his apartment, he was even reduced to living in his office there, sleeping on a couch next to his desk. Fairlie devoted much of the second half of his career to trying to explain America to Americans. Between 1976 and 1982, he wrote "Fairlie at Large," a bi-weekly column for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. In those pieces he often abandoned political subjects to write about American manners and morals: for instance, why Americans would do well to give up showers in favour of more contemplative baths. His romantic attachment to the possibilities of American life found its fullest expression in a long essay titled "Why I Love America," which ''The New Republic'' published on 4 July 1983. In the winter of 1990, Fairlie fell in the lobby of ''The New Republic'', breaking a hip. After a brief hospitalisation, he died on 25 February. His ashes were buried in the family plot in Scotland.McCarter, pp. 33–4.


Books

*The Life of Politics, Methuen, 1969. *The Kennedy Promise, Doubleday, 1973. *The Spoiled Child of the Western World: The Miscarriage of the American Idea in Our Time, Doubleday, 1976. *The Parties: Republicans and Democrats in This Century, St. Martin's, 1978. *The Seven Deadly Sins Today, New Republic Books, 1978. *Bite the Hand That Feeds You: Essays and Provocations, edited by Jeremy McCarter, Yale University Press, 2009.


Notes


External links


Tory in America, by Fred Siegel, ''City Journal'' onlineReagan Was Wrong: To conservative Cassandra Henry Fairlie, Republicans sowed their present-day destruction from the start
By Jeremy McCarter of
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

Review of Bite the Hand That Feeds You, by Christopher Hitchens
in the New York Times {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairlie, Henry 1924 births 1990 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford The Washington Post people The New Yorker people The New Republic people The Times people English expatriates in the United States English political journalists English people of Scottish descent Social critics English male non-fiction writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American male writers People educated at Byron House School 20th-century English male writers Journalists from London