Arthur Schlesinger Jr. has died at the age of 89.
According to the Times obituary, he had a heart attack at a restaurant in Manhattan and died at New York Downtown Hospital.
Because of my background I think of him primarily as an historian, though his influence is at least as much as an intellectual on the stage of politics stretching over more than half a century. My favorite of his books — I think his first — is The Age of Jackson. In some ways it’s a very dated book, but also a timeless one. In its own broad and expansive narrative fashion it is as good a book as any you’ll read about the period. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about America.
Then there’s The Vital Center, the touchstone of Cold War Liberalism and liberal anti-Communism, published only three or maybe four years Age of Jackson, though now saddled with a title that, as a catchphrase, has been cheapened out of all recognition.
Three years ago, at an awards ceremony, I saw my chance, buckled up my courage, and introduced myself in one of those awkward ‘I’m introducing myself because I want to be able to remember that I met you’ moments and had the unexpected gratification of learning that he’d heard of me. Here’s a post I wrote later that day recounting my not-so-successful attempt to explain to this octogenarian what a ‘blog’ was with very few common points of reference.
If you’re not familiar with Schlesinger or know him only as a name, take the time to read the Times obit. This is one of those passings that, in a small but deep way, marks the passing of an era.
