Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Schlesinger in 1961 | |
| Born | Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger October 15, 1917 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | February 28, 2007 (aged 89) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Historian, writer |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB) Peterhouse, Cambridge |
| Period | 1939–2007 |
| Subject | Politics, social issues, history |
| Literary movement | American liberal theory |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize (1946, 1966) National Humanities Medal (1998) |
| Spouse |
Alexandra Emmet Allan
(m. 1971) |
| Children | 5 |
Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (/ˈʃlɛsɪndʒər/ SHLESS-in-jər; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a specialist in American history, much of Schlesinger's work explored the history of 20th-century American liberalism. In particular, his work focused on leaders such as Harry S. Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. In the 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns, he was a primary speechwriter and adviser to the Democratic presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson II.[2] Schlesinger served as special assistant and "court historian"[3] to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He wrote a detailed account of the Kennedy administration, from the 1960 presidential campaign to the president's state funeral, titled A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, which won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
In 1968, Schlesinger actively supported the presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, which ended with Kennedy's assassination in Los Angeles. Schlesinger wrote a popular biography, Robert Kennedy and His Times, several years later. He later popularized the term "imperial presidency" during the Nixon administration in his 1973 book, The Imperial Presidency.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (October 17, 2017). "Marian Cannon Schlesinger, Author and Eyewitness to History, Dies at 105". The New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ Martin, John Bartlow (1976), Adlai Stevenson of Illinois: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson, pp. 630–643
- ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (March 4, 2007). "Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. – History, Written in the Present Tense". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2008.