I remember reading in Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson that Sen. Richard Russell, chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the 1950s and 60s and unofficial leader of the Southern conservatives in the Senate, read the entire Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in his office. But it is certainly hard to imagine that happening today.
Bill Jolly Philadelphia, MS On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Antoine Capet <[email protected]> wrote: > > "Now, with all that said, hopefully President Obama will take a gander at > his first editions of the Churchill biography given to him by Prime > Minister > Brown". > > > Scott Manning > Philadelphia, PA > > ................................ > Dear Scott, > > Which editions of the Churchill biography? Surely you cannot expect the > President of the United States (or any country) to find the time to read > Sir > Martin Gilbert's superb tomes and their "companions" with the attention > which they deserve ? It would be dereliction of duty. > > If indeed it is that edition, it was obviously a gift to be fully > appreciated in his retirement from politics - too late in fact for him to > profit by Churchill's magnificent example. > > In the meantime the hefty volumes will only grace the shelves of one of his > offices - I cannot imagine them on his bedside table... > > Days only have 24 hours, for presidents as for the rest of us... > > It would have made more sense to give him for instance the Addison short > biography if Mr Brown really wanted him to read the text now. Even so I > doubt if any statesman in activity has the time to read anything other than > memos and abstracts prepared by his staff. > > So these readings should be made during a president's formative years - > when > in office, it is too late... and after retiring from office it is also too > late, for other reasons. > > Best wishes, > > Professor Antoine Capet, FRHistS > Head of British Studies > University of Rouen > Mont-Saint-Aignan 76821 (France) > 'Britain since 1914' Editor, > Royal Historical Society Bibliography > [email protected] > > Fax from France : 02 35 14 00 88 > Fax from the United Kingdom : 00 33 235 140 088 > Fax from the United States : 011 33 235 140 088 > > Find references of publications on-line on the free website of the Royal > Historical Society Bibliography : > www.rhs.ac.uk/bibl > ==================== > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
