Advertisement

Truman Advisers GOP'ers at Heart Schlesinger Says

Historian Seeks Leadership for Liberalizing Democrats, Hits Red 'Intellectual Terrorism'

"Homeless and leaderless," the U.S. Left is an army of "politically displaced persons," according to Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. '38, newly appointed associate professor of History, who delivered the featured address at Saturday's Massachusetts Student Campaign Conference in Emerson Hall.

"The men around Truman would look just as appropriate," he said, "around a Republican president--except that, were the president Republican, the satellites would probably be smarter. Men like George Allen, John Snyder, Harry Vaughan, and Clark Clifford are, in fact, temperamentally and emotionally Republicans."

Liberals Gain Importance

Admitting that vested interests in the GOP render it inherently the conservative political unit in America, and granting that the chances for a successful third party are open to great debate. Schlesinger concluded that the target for liberals during the next seven years would be "recapturing the Democratic Party."

"We must set our sights toward achieving another New Deal," he said, "and paradoxically enough, while we're doing it, we must clearly avoid embracing the two myths which are anathemas to progressives today--the indispensability of the Democratic machine, and the indispensability of the Communist party. Let's not support party hacks--and let's not succumb to those great abiding tactics of intellectual terrorism practiced by the C.P.U.S.A."

Advertisement
Advertisement