the Active Intellectual
In February the world lost an active intellectual voice. Arthur M. Schlesinger was a man who engaged with his times. Using keen historical knowledge, he advised world leaders. He was an advisor to John F. Kennedy and can be seen in photos both serious and social. He believed in the use of history as a tool to actively approach the issues of the day.
I may not agree with all his ideas, but I admired that he was a "real time" historian who believed the past could be a corrective lens when shined on the present.
Many of today's publicly prominent writers of popular history tend to avoid commenting on the present and concentrate their historical eye on the past. David McCullough is a household name and a fine writer. His history of President Harry Truman remains one of my favorite books. He and others, provide the a wonderful narrative window into the past, but they do not extend this narrative to the present.
Historian Clay Jenkinson
engages history with the present very effectively by utilizing the intellectual ideas of the past as a window on the present. Through various characters, (namely Thomas Jefferson) Jenkinson helps us to reflect on the present by interweaving the ideas of the past. He adds additional depth by providing the added reflections of a 21st Century historian. The title of his book Becoming Jefferson's People: Reinventing the American Republic in the 21st Century is a book that embodies these ideas. We need more historians like Jenkinson who interpret and make us aware of the ideas of the past so we may engage them with a new age.
I may not agree with all his ideas, but I admired that he was a "real time" historian who believed the past could be a corrective lens when shined on the present.
Many of today's publicly prominent writers of popular history tend to avoid commenting on the present and concentrate their historical eye on the past. David McCullough is a household name and a fine writer. His history of President Harry Truman remains one of my favorite books. He and others, provide the a wonderful narrative window into the past, but they do not extend this narrative to the present.
Historian Clay Jenkinson
engages history with the present very effectively by utilizing the intellectual ideas of the past as a window on the present. Through various characters, (namely Thomas Jefferson) Jenkinson helps us to reflect on the present by interweaving the ideas of the past. He adds additional depth by providing the added reflections of a 21st Century historian. The title of his book Becoming Jefferson's People: Reinventing the American Republic in the 21st Century is a book that embodies these ideas. We need more historians like Jenkinson who interpret and make us aware of the ideas of the past so we may engage them with a new age.
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