Almanac of Story Tellers: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of Oct. 15th

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     It is the 287th day of the year, leaving 78 days remaining in 2022.

    On this date in 1917, the historian and author, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., was born.

 

    He told his stories about U.S. history and history-makers, sometimes from first-hand observations. He was innovative, influential, and prolific. He often wrote about the politics of history and historical events, and his view was that of a mid-20th Century liberal and democracy advocate.

    In one of his earlier books, The Age of Jackson, he wrote about "Jacksonian democracy" and the 1829-1837 presidency of Andrew Jackson. Schlesinger reinterpreted those times to include the cultural, social, and economic lives of people instead of just the major events and decisions.

    It won him the first of two Pulitzer Prizes.

    He then turned his eyes to the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, writing The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom, a defense of anti-communism and the New Deal's regulated economy. During the late 1950s, he put out a three volume exploration of the beginnings, middle, and impact of FDR's presidency.

    During this time, he was engaged in Democratic politics as a supporter of Adlai Stevenson, and in 1960, he backed John F. Kennedy. He joined the JFK administration, working as a speechwriter, among other duties.

    In 1965, he published A Thousand Days, about Kennedy's abbreviated time in the White House. It was criticized for being a history written too soon after the events, but it won Schlesinger his second Pulitzer Prize.

    After JFK's death, Schlesinger became an admirer and supporter of Robert Kennedy, and worked for him during his run for the White House. After RFK's assassination, Schlesinger wrote a biography, Robert Kennedy and his Times.

    He also continued to write about American presidents (Nixon, Lincoln, and more on FDR), Congress, topics in American history, and himself (a memoir, Journals (1959-2000).

    Schlesinger died in 2007.