The Cycles of American History

by Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780395957936
• ISBN10: 0395957931
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-16
• Publisher: Mariner Books

Summary

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., first revealed the sequences that governed American politics over the past two centuries in The Cycles of American History. In this updated edition, the prominent political historian continues to reflect on the "recurring struggle between pragmatism and idealism in the American soul" (Time). Faced with a new century, a new millennium, and social and technological revolutions, Schlesinger confronts the possibility of a revolution in American political cycles.

Author Biography

ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER, JR., the author of sixteen books, was a renowned historian and social critic. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, in 1946 for The Age of Jackson and in 1966 for A Thousand Days. He was also the winner of the National Book Award for both A Thousand Days and Robert Kennedy and His Times (1979). In 1998 he was awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medal.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Mariner Edition	vi
Foreword	x
I
The Theory of America: Experiment or Destiny?	3	(20)
The Cycles of American Politics	23	(28)
II
Foreign Policy and the American Character	51	(18)
National Interests and Moral Absolutes	69	(18)
Human Rights and the American Tradition	87	(24)
The Solzhenitsyn Challenge	111	(7)
America and Empire	118	(45)
Why the Cold War?	163	(56)
III
Affirmative Government and the American Economy	219	(37)
The Short Happy Life of American Political Parties	256	(21)
After the Imperial Presidency	277	(60)
The Future of the Vice Presidency	337	(36)
Vicissitudes of Presidential Reputations	373	(46)
Democracy and Leadership	419	(18)
Acknowledgments	437	(2)
Notes	439	(36)
Index	475