The Pendragon's Hall

The Pendragon is woefully behind the times. I discovered only this morning that one of my favorite historians, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., died on February 28th, 2007, at the age of 89. While our politics were of radically different cast (he wrote speeches for McGovern and Teddy Kennedy), Schlesinger was a great historian. Having recently completed an historiographical survey of the New Deal in which Schlesinger figured prominently, his work is still fresh in my mind. Though he clearly admired FDR, a fact that led New Left and some Right historians to tar his work as "ill-concealed hero worship," Schlesinger was able also to assess shortcomings in programs that he supported. He was also one of the first New Dealers to break with Henry Wallace and the pro-Soviet faction, something that probably contributed to his demonization by the New Left. While forever suspect as an historian of the Kennedys, since he worked for them (darn Kennedys ruin everything they touch), he was still considered one of the all-time greats. The American historical profession is poorer for having lost the man who constantly demonstrated that to be a Progressive, left-leaning historian need not ensure a lack of patriotism.

Alonzo Hamby has a great obituary here.