Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Photo by Inger Elliott, Penguin Press
"What the hell, you have to call them as you see them," the late Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., told his sons, Andrew and Stephen, who were surprised when their father asked them to edit his Journals for publication.
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Photo by Inger Elliott, Penguin Press
Book Review by Rosaleen Leslie Dickson
"What the hell, you have to call them as you see them," the late Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr, told his sons, Andrew and Stephen, who were surprised when their father asked them to edit his Journals for publication.
They were further surprised at how much their father wanted left in. But the Penguin Press, New York, published the tome of memories covering the last 48 years of the last century, omitting none of the author’s captivating comments on everyone of any importance during the half century in question.
This big book commands the reader’s attention through 858 pages of name-dropping, plus a 36-page index including every significant politician, bureaucrat, diplomat, dignitary and otherwise notable person of the half century.
This author knew them all, and having read the book, now so do I, but Arthur didn’t need to read, he was there.
It’s not a book of accolades, although he does give credit wherever he felt it was due and after reading the part about his tea with Margaret Thatcher, you come away feeling you know the lady.
Other visits, such as to Victor Paz Estenssoro, didn’t result in the same “I feel like I know him” sense because Schlesinger, who had much to tell the Bolivian president, initiated most of their conversation.
As a White House insider through the Kennedy years and beyond, and the most prolific author of his time, twice a Pulitzer Prize winner, historian Arthur Schlesinger has given us the book we all want to have. It’s not an encyclopaedia of everyone who was anyone, but it comes close. And it’s not just a list of great doings and brilliant sayings; the book is also rife with opinion and cutting remarks where appropriate.
Arthur Schlesinger’s final barb came to his mind on November 28, 2000, after a grand affair of the Century Association where Al Gore was dignified and effective, especially as compared to Bush’s speech the day before claiming victory. “Bush,” wrote Schlesinger, “looked like a frightened ventriloquist’s dummy.”
You won’t sit down and read the whole book in an afternoon, but it’s great to dip into, for it adds depth, and fun, to the news you’ve been reading all these years.
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