Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195072389
- eISBN:
- 9780199787982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195072389.003.0040
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Freed from the responsibility of editing The American Mercury, Mencken turned to his political column. He was a supporter of a balanced budget, fiscal responsibility, and a federal government with ...
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Freed from the responsibility of editing The American Mercury, Mencken turned to his political column. He was a supporter of a balanced budget, fiscal responsibility, and a federal government with limited powers. He believed, like Thomas Jefferson, that the best government was one that governed least. Like his father before him — who had always been suspicious of governmental authority and power, and a believer in the self-reliance of the individual — Mencken was alarmed by Roosevelt's New Deal policies, which seemed to him like an abolition of traditional Constitutional guarantees. Mencken's confrontation with FDR came at the 1934 Gridiron Dinner, when, after Mencken's lighthearted attack on the President, FDR played a malicious joke on Mencken, causing much rancor.Less
Freed from the responsibility of editing The American Mercury, Mencken turned to his political column. He was a supporter of a balanced budget, fiscal responsibility, and a federal government with limited powers. He believed, like Thomas Jefferson, that the best government was one that governed least. Like his father before him — who had always been suspicious of governmental authority and power, and a believer in the self-reliance of the individual — Mencken was alarmed by Roosevelt's New Deal policies, which seemed to him like an abolition of traditional Constitutional guarantees. Mencken's confrontation with FDR came at the 1934 Gridiron Dinner, when, after Mencken's lighthearted attack on the President, FDR played a malicious joke on Mencken, causing much rancor.
Jonathan Betts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198568025
- eISBN:
- 9780191718144
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568025.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his ...
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This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his relatively short and dramatically troubled life. From antique clocks to scientific mysteries, from typewriters to the first systematic study of the Loch Ness Monster, Gould studied and published on them all. With the title ‘The Stargazer’, Gould was an early broadcaster on the BBC's Children's Hour when, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, he became known as The Man Who Knew Everything. Not surprisingly, he was also part of that elite group on BBC radio who formed The Brains Trust, giving on-the-spot answers to all manner of wide ranging and difficult questions. With his wide learning and photographic memory, Gould awed a national audience, becoming one of the era's radio celebrities. During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development. Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Rupert's name to a wider public. Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends.Less
This is the story of Rupert T. Gould (1890-1948), the polymath and horologist. A remarkable man, Lt Cmdr Gould made important contributions in an extraordinary range of subject areas throughout his relatively short and dramatically troubled life. From antique clocks to scientific mysteries, from typewriters to the first systematic study of the Loch Ness Monster, Gould studied and published on them all. With the title ‘The Stargazer’, Gould was an early broadcaster on the BBC's Children's Hour when, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, he became known as The Man Who Knew Everything. Not surprisingly, he was also part of that elite group on BBC radio who formed The Brains Trust, giving on-the-spot answers to all manner of wide ranging and difficult questions. With his wide learning and photographic memory, Gould awed a national audience, becoming one of the era's radio celebrities. During the 1920s Gould restored the complex and highly significant marine timekeepers constructed by John Harrison (1693-1776), and wrote the unsurpassed classic, The Marine Chronometer, its History and Development. Today he is virtually unknown, his horological contributions scarcely mentioned in Dava Sobel's bestseller Longitude. The TV version of Longitude, in which Jeremy Irons played Rupert Gould, did at least introduce Rupert's name to a wider public. Gould suffered terrible bouts of depression, resulting in a number of nervous breakdowns. These, coupled with his obsessive and pedantic nature, led to a scandalously-reported separation from his wife and cost him his family, his home, his job, and his closest friends.
William Lasser
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088793
- eISBN:
- 9780300128888
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088793.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
A key figure in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, Benjamin V. Cohen (1894–1983) was a major architect of public policy from the first days of FDR's presidency through ...
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A key figure in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, Benjamin V. Cohen (1894–1983) was a major architect of public policy from the first days of FDR's presidency through the early days of the Cold War. Although he kept a low public profile, Cohen's influence extended across a wide range of domestic and foreign policy initiatives. This biography offers an account of Ben Cohen's life and career, and an assessment of his contribution to the origin and development of modern American liberalism. Cohen's life provides an extraordinary lens through which to view the development of the evolving political philosophy of the Roosevelt and Truman presidencies. A brilliant lawyer noted for his good judgment and experience, Cohen was a leading member of FDR's “Brain Trust,” developing ideas, drafting legislation, lobbying within the administration and in Congress, and defending the New Deal in court. The book traces his contributions to domestic financial policy, his activities during the war years in London and Washington, his service as counselor to the State Department and member of the American delegation to the United Nations after the war, and his role in the American Zionist movement. From Cohen's life and work, the book draws important insights into the development of the New Deal and the evolution of postwar liberalism.Less
A key figure in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, Benjamin V. Cohen (1894–1983) was a major architect of public policy from the first days of FDR's presidency through the early days of the Cold War. Although he kept a low public profile, Cohen's influence extended across a wide range of domestic and foreign policy initiatives. This biography offers an account of Ben Cohen's life and career, and an assessment of his contribution to the origin and development of modern American liberalism. Cohen's life provides an extraordinary lens through which to view the development of the evolving political philosophy of the Roosevelt and Truman presidencies. A brilliant lawyer noted for his good judgment and experience, Cohen was a leading member of FDR's “Brain Trust,” developing ideas, drafting legislation, lobbying within the administration and in Congress, and defending the New Deal in court. The book traces his contributions to domestic financial policy, his activities during the war years in London and Washington, his service as counselor to the State Department and member of the American delegation to the United Nations after the war, and his role in the American Zionist movement. From Cohen's life and work, the book draws important insights into the development of the New Deal and the evolution of postwar liberalism.
