What do you think?
Rate this book
Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics
Henry M. Jackson ranks as one of the great legislators in American history. With a Congressional career spanning the tenure of nine Presidents, Jackson had an enormous impact on the most crucial foreign policy and defense issues of the Cold War era, as well as a marked impact on energy policy, civil rights, and other watershed issues in domestic politics. Jackson first arrived in Washington, D.C., in January 1941 as the Democratic representative of the Second District of Washington State, at the age of 28 the youngest member of Congress. "Scoop" Jackson won reelection time and again by wide margins, moving to the Senate in 1953 and serving there until his death in 1983. He became a powerful voice in U.S. foreign policy and a leading influence in major domestic legislation, especially concerning natural resources, energy, and the environment, working effectively with Senator Warren Magnuson to bring considerable federal investment to Washington State.
A standard bearer for the New Deal-Fair Deal tradition of Roosevelt and Truman, Jackson advocated a strong role for the federal government in the economy, health care, and civil rights. He was a firm believer in public control of electric and nuclear power, and leveled stern criticism at the oil industry's "obscene profits" during the energy crisis of the 1970s. He ran for the presidency twice, in 1972 and 1976, but was defeated for the nomination first by George McGovern and then by Jimmy Carter, marking the beginning of a split between dovish and hawkish liberal Democrats that would not be mended until the ascendance of Bill Clinton.
Jackson's vision concerning America's Cold War objectives owed much to Harry Truman's approach toworld affairs but, ironically, found its best manifestation in the actions taken by the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan. An early and strong supporter of Israel and of Soviet dissidents, he strongly opposed the Nixon/Kissinger policy of detente as well as many of Carter's methods of dealing with the Soviet Union.
Robert Kaufman has immersed himself in the life and times of Jackson, poring over the more than 1,500 boxes of written materials and tapes that make up the Jackson Papers housed at the University of Washington, as well as the collections of every presidential library from Kennedy through Reagan. He interviewed many people who knew Jackson, both friends and rivals, and consulted other archival materials and published sources dealing with Jackson, relevant U.S. political history and commentary, arms negotiation documents, and congressional reports. He uses this wealth of material to present a thoughtful and encompassing picture of the ideas and policies that shaped America's Cold War philosophy and actions.
A standard bearer for the New Deal-Fair Deal tradition of Roosevelt and Truman, Jackson advocated a strong role for the federal government in the economy, health care, and civil rights. He was a firm believer in public control of electric and nuclear power, and leveled stern criticism at the oil industry's "obscene profits" during the energy crisis of the 1970s. He ran for the presidency twice, in 1972 and 1976, but was defeated for the nomination first by George McGovern and then by Jimmy Carter, marking the beginning of a split between dovish and hawkish liberal Democrats that would not be mended until the ascendance of Bill Clinton.
Jackson's vision concerning America's Cold War objectives owed much to Harry Truman's approach toworld affairs but, ironically, found its best manifestation in the actions taken by the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan. An early and strong supporter of Israel and of Soviet dissidents, he strongly opposed the Nixon/Kissinger policy of detente as well as many of Carter's methods of dealing with the Soviet Union.
Robert Kaufman has immersed himself in the life and times of Jackson, poring over the more than 1,500 boxes of written materials and tapes that make up the Jackson Papers housed at the University of Washington, as well as the collections of every presidential library from Kennedy through Reagan. He interviewed many people who knew Jackson, both friends and rivals, and consulted other archival materials and published sources dealing with Jackson, relevant U.S. political history and commentary, arms negotiation documents, and congressional reports. He uses this wealth of material to present a thoughtful and encompassing picture of the ideas and policies that shaped America's Cold War philosophy and actions.
548 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 27, 2013
75% of this is a neoconservative retelling of the foreign policy battles of the 70s and 80s and why hawks (and Reagan, of course) were right. The other 25% contains some interesting biographical material and anecdotes.
Scoop Jackson did a lot more than foreign policy - he was chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where his legislative achievements are still with us. The author chooses to devote part of a chapter to the development of the National Environmental Protection Act, and has even less on the Wilderness areas created by Senator Jackson. These were big legislative fights with interesting politics behind them, and I'm disappointed they weren't featured more.
If you're interested in cold war policy debates from a neoconservative interpretation, I guess this could be interesting for you, but certainly there are other books that address that from a larger perspective.
Scoop Jackson did a lot more than foreign policy - he was chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where his legislative achievements are still with us. The author chooses to devote part of a chapter to the development of the National Environmental Protection Act, and has even less on the Wilderness areas created by Senator Jackson. These were big legislative fights with interesting politics behind them, and I'm disappointed they weren't featured more.
If you're interested in cold war policy debates from a neoconservative interpretation, I guess this could be interesting for you, but certainly there are other books that address that from a larger perspective.
August 30, 2018
#84 of 120 books pledged to read during 2018
June 15, 2018
There's a great bit of philosophy expressed in Inherit The Wind where the Henry Drummond character explains to the Matthew Harrison Brady character why he's moved so far away when they
were once allies in so many causes. Drummond explains we all move and grow in different ways and
maybe it's you who have moved away by just standing still.
Thus it was with Henry M. Jackson, US Senator from Washington State who became the last of the
cold war liberals in the Senate. Jackson came to the House of Representatives in 1940 and to the
Senate in 1952 defeating a rightwing Republican named Harry P. Cain, an acolyte of Joe McCarthy. In
the Senate he was a New Deal/Fair Deal liberal with a good record on environmental issues and civil
rights. He actually had a scheme that's still probably a good idea, a Columbia River Water Authority
like the Tennessee Valley Authority. Too much opposition killed that one however.
He also never saw a defense appropriation he didn't like. Not surprising since Boeing is one of the
big employers in the state. He was a good friend of John F. Kennedy in the Senate and supported
him in 1960. He was not all that close to Lyndon Johnson when he was Senate Majority Leader in
the 50s. But when LBJ was president there was no firmer supporter of him as to the Vietnam War
and the Great Society than Scoop Jackson.
Jackson was never enamored of the Republican presidents he served with after Johnson. Yet he
supported them in many foreign policy decisions. In at least one area he outdid them. I remember
well growing up in Brooklyn and seeing that this shegetz Senator of Norwegian ancestry from Washington State was beloved of Jews for his support of Soviet Jewry and their attempts to leave
the Soviet Union. And of course there was no firmer supporter of Israel. When he ran for president
in 1976 his support where I live was overwhelming. That was one bloc of voters he owned.
The man who was once a liberal on civil rights stood still. His own son interviewed for the book by
author Robert Gordon Kaufman said that Jackson would not accept civil rights for gay people as a
legitimate concern. True up to the day he died in 1983. In some ways Jackson was even more
conservative than Ronald Reagan whom he generally supported on foreign policy issues.
This is an interesting study of a man who grew away by just standing still.
were once allies in so many causes. Drummond explains we all move and grow in different ways and
maybe it's you who have moved away by just standing still.
Thus it was with Henry M. Jackson, US Senator from Washington State who became the last of the
cold war liberals in the Senate. Jackson came to the House of Representatives in 1940 and to the
Senate in 1952 defeating a rightwing Republican named Harry P. Cain, an acolyte of Joe McCarthy. In
the Senate he was a New Deal/Fair Deal liberal with a good record on environmental issues and civil
rights. He actually had a scheme that's still probably a good idea, a Columbia River Water Authority
like the Tennessee Valley Authority. Too much opposition killed that one however.
He also never saw a defense appropriation he didn't like. Not surprising since Boeing is one of the
big employers in the state. He was a good friend of John F. Kennedy in the Senate and supported
him in 1960. He was not all that close to Lyndon Johnson when he was Senate Majority Leader in
the 50s. But when LBJ was president there was no firmer supporter of him as to the Vietnam War
and the Great Society than Scoop Jackson.
Jackson was never enamored of the Republican presidents he served with after Johnson. Yet he
supported them in many foreign policy decisions. In at least one area he outdid them. I remember
well growing up in Brooklyn and seeing that this shegetz Senator of Norwegian ancestry from Washington State was beloved of Jews for his support of Soviet Jewry and their attempts to leave
the Soviet Union. And of course there was no firmer supporter of Israel. When he ran for president
in 1976 his support where I live was overwhelming. That was one bloc of voters he owned.
The man who was once a liberal on civil rights stood still. His own son interviewed for the book by
author Robert Gordon Kaufman said that Jackson would not accept civil rights for gay people as a
legitimate concern. True up to the day he died in 1983. In some ways Jackson was even more
conservative than Ronald Reagan whom he generally supported on foreign policy issues.
This is an interesting study of a man who grew away by just standing still.
May 23, 2024
Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson is best remembered for his strong anti-communist stance, his strong support for Israel, labor and the environment. Jackson first rose to prominence as a Snohomish County prosecutor and then was elected to Congress in 1940 and to the Senate in 1952.
Jackson supported the New Deal programs of Franklin Roosevelt and the Fair Deal programs of Harry Truman. It was at the beginning of the Cold War that Jackson began to become known for his strong distrust of the Soviet Union which would become his calling card for the rest of his career.
In this heavily researched biography Robert Kaufman focuses largely on Jackson's career as an anti-Soviet crusader who clashed with Presidents from Eisenhower to Carter. Jackson did support the U.S. war in Vietnam even though he felt it was poorly run and mismanaged by the defense department under Robert McNamara and distrustful of Henry Kissinger. Jackson clashed with Nixon, Ford and Carter over the policy of detente in the 1970s. Many of Jackson's aides became staffers in the Reagan administration where they continued the hard line against the Soviet Union. Kaufman does an excellent job on Jackson's two presidential campaigns and his inability to capture his party's presidential nomination in 1972 & 1976.
Where this biography comes up short is the relative inattention to Jackson's more liberal views on domestic policy and his work there outside of a chapter devoted to his championing the environment in the 1960s & 70s. His family life also is addressed mostly in passing and rarely mentioned. The author's very strong conservative viewpoint at times makes those who Jackson disagreed with seem on the wrong side of history, also Kaufman rarely finds fault in any of Jackson's views or actions seeing Jackson more as the man whose views were vindicated in the end of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Overall a excellent contribution to studies of Scoop Jackson and the Cold War politics. A very good biography that should have been great.
Jackson supported the New Deal programs of Franklin Roosevelt and the Fair Deal programs of Harry Truman. It was at the beginning of the Cold War that Jackson began to become known for his strong distrust of the Soviet Union which would become his calling card for the rest of his career.
In this heavily researched biography Robert Kaufman focuses largely on Jackson's career as an anti-Soviet crusader who clashed with Presidents from Eisenhower to Carter. Jackson did support the U.S. war in Vietnam even though he felt it was poorly run and mismanaged by the defense department under Robert McNamara and distrustful of Henry Kissinger. Jackson clashed with Nixon, Ford and Carter over the policy of detente in the 1970s. Many of Jackson's aides became staffers in the Reagan administration where they continued the hard line against the Soviet Union. Kaufman does an excellent job on Jackson's two presidential campaigns and his inability to capture his party's presidential nomination in 1972 & 1976.
Where this biography comes up short is the relative inattention to Jackson's more liberal views on domestic policy and his work there outside of a chapter devoted to his championing the environment in the 1960s & 70s. His family life also is addressed mostly in passing and rarely mentioned. The author's very strong conservative viewpoint at times makes those who Jackson disagreed with seem on the wrong side of history, also Kaufman rarely finds fault in any of Jackson's views or actions seeing Jackson more as the man whose views were vindicated in the end of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Overall a excellent contribution to studies of Scoop Jackson and the Cold War politics. A very good biography that should have been great.
March 29, 2013
A thorough account of Senator Jackson's life, philosophy and contribution to American political life. Slightly too academic in places, and leaves some aspects of his career underdeveloped, but cannot be criticised as a comprehensive introduction to Henry Jackson. Written in 2000, it's interesting to see how the foreign policy debates led by Jackson were treated in the pre-9/11 era.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews