First published 2012
Robert W. Merry chronicles the remarkable careers of Joseph and Stewart Alsop, the influential columnist brothers who helped create the American Century. Born into the patrician class with Theodore Roosevelt as their great-uncle and Eleanor Roosevelt as their cousin, the Alsops wielded enormous power through their newspaper column that appeared in nearly two hundred papers four times a week. Stewart brought political insight and charm while Joe delivered aristocratic wit and biting commentary, once comparing dinner with Lyndon Johnson to "an opera in which one man sings all the parts." Their connections reached the highest levels of government, from Franklin Roosevelt through the Kennedy administration to the Vietnam era. Merry reveals how these men of words served as both confidants and cheerleaders for the foreign policy elite who reshaped America's global role after World War II. The book illuminates their harrowing wartime experiences, their complex brotherly relationship, and their interactions with figures like Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, and Jackie Kennedy, whom Joe tutored in Washington ways.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: America, Vietnam
Period: Cold War, Kennedy Administration, World War II
688 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform