Examines the role of Yale president Kingman Brewster in shaping modern liberalism and his position as a political mentor to such figures as Kennedy adviser McGeorge Bundy and Attorney General Elliot Richardson.
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Since World War II, they had lived their lives at the center of their times. But, as their complicated era reached its most divisive moments, they stood together, still committed yet under siege: it was May Day 1970 and Yale was set to erupt, as the country had. Students squared off against National Guardsmen amid rumors of bombs and rising threats from the Black Panthers. Yet most vulnerable, perhaps, was the university's president, Kingman Brewster. His efforts to rebuild a new Yale - from a bastion of privilege to a place where merit outranked class and color - had earned him the covers of Time and Newsweek and brought him to the forefront of those trying to usher in peaceful change. At his side, or with him in spirit, at this crisis point were his longtime friends, all influential men involved in the struggle to create an era of equal opportunity for all.In The Guardians, using Brewster as his focal point, Geoffrey Kabaservice tells the story of these men - the liberal establishment - who helped guide America between old and new, between tradition and the future. Through the vivid stories of their lives, Kabaservice reveals their enormous impact on America and the extent of their legacy, which is too often disregarded, distorted, or misunderstood. Beginning with that May Day scene, Kabaservice flashes back to chronicle their rise and fall, moving from the great houses of the Eastern seaboard to the battlefields of World War II, from the Cold War to Vietnam, from the halls of the Ivy League to Capitol Hill.Along the Brewster, Kabaservice brings to life the prickly, brilliant, and widely resented McGeorge Bundy, advisor to Kennedy and Johnson, who would forever share the responsibility for Vietnam; Cyrus Vance, the Wall Street attorney turned presidential trouble-shooter who led diplomatic efforts at the Paris peace talks and tried to bring peace to Detroit after its violent race riots; John Lindsay, whose reputation as New York's most glamorous mayor did not hinder his effectiveness in Harlem; Paul Moore, the youthful toast of Ivy League social clubs who was transformed by the civil rights movement and became the Episcopal bishop of New York and Washington; and Elliot Richardson, Nixon's attorney general, who stood for integrity during the dark days of the Watergate crisis.Through the shared lives of Brewster and his remarkable allies, a half century of history comes to life. Kabaservice clarifies, at long last, the enduring significance of the liberals, who helped their institutions, and their nation, make the transition from an aristocratic to a more meritocratic system. Kabaservice's insight into these men - their sacrifices, tragic mistakes, heroism, and enormous legacy - makes The Guardians an essential volume for all who would hope to understand the American Century.
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