The last brahmin: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the making of the Cold War
2020; Oxford University Press; Volume: 96; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/ia/iiaa196
ISSN1468-2346
Autores Tópico(s)Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
ResumoThe views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of the US government. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr is, by most measures, a forgotten figure. Writing on his life is scant; no building bears his name; neither the galleries of the US Capitol nor the hallways of the Department of State feature any trace of him. Lodge possessed the gravitas of a secretary of state, was nearly elected vice-president, and was almost drafted to run for president. Yet he somehow faded from public memory long ago. The last brahmin brings the patrician diplomat back into focus. Born at the twilight of the Gilded Age into a family that spoke with a transatlantic accent and viewed its influence over the country's most powerful institutions as a foregone conclusion, Lodge possessed a singular sense of noblesse oblige. At a glance, his résumé reads like the lyrics to Billy Joel's ‘We didn't start the fire’: Lodge was a senator amid the rise of McCarthyism; permanent representative to the UN during the Suez Crisis; vice-presidential running mate to Richard Nixon; ambassador to Saigon during the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem; and envoy to the Vatican during the papacy of Paul VI. He won the 1964 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary without declaring himself a candidate, advised President Johnson on Vietnam and led President Nixon's peace negotiations in Paris.
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