{"value"=>"<p>The bulk of Schlesinger's journals cover the years 1952-2002. They document Schlesinger's work for the Democratic Party in the 1950s; his tenure as a member of John F. Kennedy's campaign and presidential staffs; his activities as a journalist, professor, and public intellectual after moving to New York in 1966; his role as an advisor to the Democratic Party and its leadership, such as Robert and Ted Kennedy, Averell Harriman, George McGovern, Bill Clinton and Al Gore; and his friendships with other politically-oriented intellectuals, the staffs of the Kennedy and other presidential administrations, and prominent cultural figures. The earliest journals in this series date back to the early 1930s and are included here in their original handwritten versions. A teenage Schlesinger began keeping them to record his travel experiences and his observations and musings about his destinations.</p> <p>Schlesinger wrote not just for public consumption, but also for himself, and his personal journals provide perhaps the greatest insight into his opinions, and in some cases his daily life. Although entries include some information and reflections on Schlesinger's private life, their focus, like Schlesinger's, is on current events. The journals are not deeply introspective. Personal remarks usually center on his progress on current writing, his teaching, and personal and family milestones. Mentions of such topics are, in any case, brief.</p> <p>Most of the journal entries report and comment on the news of the day. Schlesinger is often present and frequently participating in the events he describes. For instance, Schlesinger went to nearly every Democratic National Convention during his adulthood, and often had some official or unofficial role or influence; he was on President Kennedy's staff and participated in meetings on such topics as Cuba, Vietnam, and civil rights legislation; he drafted speeches, and took official trips, such as one to South America in 1961; and he found himself at the center of the events in the aftermath of the President's assassination. Later, after leaving official public life, his friends and colleagues in political and other circles continued to call on Schlesinger for advice and to comment on their plans of action, speeches, letters, and editorials. At dinners, cocktail parties, and informal gatherings, he was there as Robert Kennedy decided whether to run against Lyndon Johnson in 1968, as George McGovern mounted his 1972 campaign, and as Ted Kennedy struggled seemingly every four years over his presidential aspirations. His views on Bill Clinton's campaign and presidency are here, as well as his contributions as an unofficial consultant to the Al Gore campaign in 2000.</p> <p>Schlesinger was very active socially and many of his entries are framed as reports on a party, a trip to a friend's country home, or a lunch at the Century Club. Although he is often not the main character in the events about which he writes, he narrates with a distinct point of view while reporting facts and the opinions of others.</p> <p>In addition to the usual motivations for keeping a journal, Schlesinger used his as an aid in writing his books, letters, articles, memorials, and speeches recalling past events. For this reason, entries may contain annotations made some years after the fact. Schlesinger also sent copies of pages to colleagues to help them recall or write about specific past events. Although an edited version of these journals was published after Schlesinger's death (<span class=\"title\">Journals, 1952-2000</span> by Arthur M. Schlesinger; edited by Andrew Schlesinger and Stephen Schlesinger. New York: Penguin Press, 2007), it is not clear whether or not he planned for their publication in some form as he wrote them. He certainly used them as source material for his memoirs, however, as well as for other writings requiring him to look retrospectively at events in his own lifetime.</p> <p>The journal entries are sometimes supplemented with copies of letters, memoranda, speeches, invitations, meeting minutes, and other related material. Of note, in this regard, are the letters to and from John Kennedy during the 1960 campaign. Some earlier entries, in the 1950s, consist of actual meeting minutes and notes rather than conscious journal entries.</p> <p>The journals are typed, though there are some handwritten annotations and additions. Several entries appear to have been typed from notes (by Schlesinger or his secretary, Gretchen Stewart); others were written directly on the typewriter. It is not possible to determine when or who typed the entries, except when Schlesinger refers explicitly to the action of typing himself. (See, for instance, January 26, 1974 when his son Robert comes in and taps on a few keys in mid-sentence.) During the 1950s, a variety of paper and typewriters were used. Sometimes copies were made of pages or pages were retyped later from carbons or copies. Multiple copies of the same entries have been retained when there appears to be some possible variation.</p> <p>Entries in the journal are dated the day Schlesinger wrote them rather than with the date of the events described. Depending on the regularity with which he was keeping the journal at the time, entries could cover a single day or take a more retrospective view of a preceding month or even months.</p> <p> The years of Adlai Stevenson's unsuccessful campaigns for president, 1952 especially, are well represented; otherwise entries are sporadic in the 1950s. Schlesinger began keeping his journal more regularly during Kennedy's presidential campaign. It is only in 1961 that the journal takes on regularity and uniformity in presentation, and he begins to use continuous page numbers. Schlesinger's White House years, 1961-1963, are the best documented in the journals, averaging over 400 pages per year. The journals for most other years consist of 60-100 pages, the exceptions being 1968, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983 which are each 150 pages or longer. Schlesinger tended to write in his journal more often during important political years, notably those with presidential elections.</p>"}