Irving Kristol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irving Kristol (born January 22, 1920, New York City) is considered the founder of American neoconservatism. He is married to conservative author and emeritus professor Gertrude Himmelfarb, and is the father of William Kristol. He describes himself as a "liberal mugged by reality".
Kristol was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn, NY, and although he had a bar mitzvah, says that belief had nothing to do with his family's observance.[1] He earned his B.A. in History from the City College of New York in 1940, where he was an active Trotskyist. Before graduating he met Gertrude Himmelfarb at a Trotskyist meeting, and they married on January 18, 1942.[2] He wrote in 1983 that he was “proud” to have been a member of the Fourth International in 1940. [1] From 1941-1944, he served as staff sergeant in the armored infantry in Europe in World War II. After the war he was stationed in Marseilles for a year, first as at an army headquarters library and then as chief company clerk.[3]
He was the managing editor of Commentary magazine from 1947 to 1952, cofounder of the British-based covertly CIA financed magazine Encounter and its editor from 1953 to 1958, editor of the Reporter from 1959 to 1960, executive vice-president of Basic Books from 1961 to 1969, and professor of social thought at the New York University Graduate School of Business from 1969 to 1988. Since 1988, he has been John M. Olin Distinguished Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He has used these positions and publications to animate the neoconservative movement, arguing for low taxes, a well-funded and internationally active military, conservative social policy, and a minimalist interpretation of First Amendment rights. For example, he once stated that "I don’t think the advocacy of homosexuality really falls under the First Amendment any more than the advocacy or publication of pornography does."[4]
Kristol is the founder of the politics and culture journal The Public Interest and the foreign affairs journal The National Interest. He was co-editor of The Public Interest (first with Daniel Bell, then with Nathan Glazer) from its founding in 1965 until 2002 and publisher of The National Interest from its founding in 1985 to 2001.
He is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute since 1988, a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1972, a member of the Wall Street Journal Board of Contributors since 1972, and president of National Affairs, Inc.
In July 2002, President George W. Bush awarded Kristol the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Contents |
[edit] Books
- Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea 1995 (ISBN 0-02-874021-1)
- Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead 1983 (ISBN 0-465-06872-3)
- Two Cheers for Capitalism 1978 (ISBN 0-465-08803-1)
- On the Democratic Idea in America
- The American Revolution as a successful revolution (Distinguished lecture series on the Bicentennial) 1973 (ISBN 0-8447-1300-7)
- Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity.
[edit] References
- Irving Kristol, Sex and God in American Politics: What Conservatives Really Think, Pol'y Rev., Summer 1984, at 12, 24
[edit] Quotations
- "A neoconservative is just a liberal who got mugged by reality. A neoliberal is a liberal who got mugged by reality but has not pressed charges."
- "There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work."
- "Corporate philanthropy should not be, and cannot be, disinterested. It must shape or reshape the climate of public opinion."
- "If you care for the quality of life in our American democracy, then you have to be for censorship."
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kristol, Irving. Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea. New York: The Free Press, 1995. ISBN 0-02-874021-1 p. 3-4
- ^ Kristol, 12-13.
- ^ Kristol, 13-14.
- ^ Sex and God in American Politics: What Conservatives Really Think, Pol'y Rev., Summer 1984
[edit] External links
| Find more information on Irving Kristol by searching Wikipedia's sister projects | |
|---|---|
 |
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary |
 |
Textbooks from Wikibooks |
 |
Quotations from Wikiquote |
 |
Source texts from Wikisource |
 |
Images and media from Commons |
 |
News stories from Wikinews |
 |
Learning resources from Wikiversity |
- American Conservatism 1945-1995, by Irving Kristol
- On The Political Stupidity of the Jews, by Irving Kristol
- The Neoconservative Persuasion, by Irving Kristol
Categories: 1920 births | American columnists | American military personnel of World War II | City University of New York people | Former Trotskyists | Jewish American journalists | Kristol family | Living people | American newspaper publishers (people) of the 20th century | American newspaper publishers (people) of the 21st century | People from New York City | Political pundits | Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients | United States Army soldiers
