Herbert Sebastian Agar (29 September 1897 – 24 November 1980) was an American journalist and historian, and an editor of the ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...

''.

Early life

Herbert Sebastian Agar was born September 29, 1897 in

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, New York to John G. Agar and Agnes Louis Macdonough. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1919 and received his master's degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1922 and Ph.D in 1924.

Career

Agar won the

Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, 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 book about the history ...

in 1934 for his 1933 book '' The People's Choice'', a critical look at the American presidency. Agar was associated with the

Southern Agrarians The Southern Agrarians were twelve American Southerners who wrote an agrarian literary manifesto in 1930. They and their essay collection, ''I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition'', contributed to the Southern Renaissance, t ...

and edited, with

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Life Early years Tate was born near Winchester, ...

, ''Who Owns America?'' (1936). He was also a strong proponent of an Americanized version of the British

distributist Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princ ...

socioeconomic system. Agar's 1950 book ''The Price of Union'' was one 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 ...

's favorite books, and he kept a copy of it on his desk. A passage from ''The Price of Union'' about an act of courage by

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

gave Kennedy the idea of writing an article about senatorial courage. He showed the passage to his speechwriter

Ted Sorensen Theodore Chaikin Sorensen (May 8, 1928 – October 31, 2010) was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called hi ...

and asked him to see if he could find some more examples. This Sorensen did, and eventually they had enough for a book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''

Profiles in Courage ''Profiles in Courage'' is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators. The book profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was ...

'' (1956).

Personal life and death

On June 8, 1945 Agar married Barbara Wallace, the daughter of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and the widow of Euan Wallace, a former British

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. Agar died on November 24, 1980 in Sussex, England, where he lived since World War II.

Works

*''Milton and Plato'' (1928) *''The People's Choice: From Washington to Harding — A Study in Democracy'' (1933) *''Land of the Free'' (1935) *''Who Owns America? A New Declaration of Independence'' (contributor and co-editor with

) (1936) *''The Pursuit of Happiness: The Story of American Democracy'' (1938) *''A Time for Greatness'' (1942) *''The Price of Union: The Influence of the American Temper on the Course of History'' (1950) *''Abraham Lincoln'' (1952) *''The Unquiet Years: U.S.A. 1945–1955'' (1957) *''The Price of Power: America Since 1945'' (1957) *''The Saving Remnant: An Account of Jewish Survival Since 1914'' (1960) *''The Perils of Democracy'' (1965) *''The Darkest Year: Britain Alone, June 1940 - June 1941'' (1972)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agar, Herbert 1897 births 1980 deaths Writers from New Rochelle, New York Columbia University alumni Editors of Kentucky newspapers Princeton University alumni Pulitzer Prize for History winners Journalists from New York (state) The Courier-Journal people Historians from New York (state) 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Distributism