The Guardians: Kingman Brewster, His Circle, and the Rise of the Liberal Establishment

by Geoffrey Kabaservice

How liberalism and one of the most dramatic eras in American history were shaped by an influential university president and his powerful circle of friends

Yale’s Kingman Brewster was the first and only university president to appear on the covers of Time and Newsweek, and the last of the great campus leaders to become an esteemed national figure. He was also the center of the liberal establishment—a circle of influential men who fought to keep the United States true to ideals and extend the full range of American opportunities to all citizens of every class and color. Using Brewster as his focal point, Geoffrey Kabaservice shows how he and his lifelong friends—Kennedy adviser McGeorge Bundy, Attorney General and statesman Elliot Richardson, New York mayor John Lindsay, Bishop Paul Moore, and Cyrus Vance, pillar of Washington and Wall Street—helped usher this country through the turbulence of the 1960s, creating a legacy that still survives.

In a narrative that is as engaging and lively as it is meticulously researched, The Guardians judiciously and convincingly reclaims the importance of Brewster and his generation, illuminating their vital place in American history as the bridge between the old establishment and modern liberalism.

Genres: History, Politics, Biography, American History

592 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Geoffrey Kabaservice has written for numerous national publications and has been an assistant professor of history at Yale University. He lives outside Washington, DC.

Reviews

[Jay Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine work on a largely unexplored topic, it nevertheless comes across as more of a paen to the author's alma mater, Yale. Granted I have no direct knowledge of the situation but it seems to me that the liberal establishment of the mid-20th Century would have multiple hubs of activity and not be as exclusively Yale-centric as the author leads us to believe. On the other hand, if my suspicion is mistaken perhaps the author could have addressed the matter and explained why such a natural suspicion isn't so. Of course, maybe the book is meant to focus specifically on the liberal establishment AT YALE which would be fine if that were reflected in the title. I guess that's my ultimate problem with the work: the title is quite misleading.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't manage to finish it because I didn't renew it in time. Just as I was getting to the section on co-education, of special interest to me of course. Remarkably well-written and researched, though possibly not of broad general interest.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very hard read for even the more advanced reader. It takes time to digest if not part of the history/picture. It is however an in-depth and complete study of the liberal establishment and Old Blue and New Blue-Yale University.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read the "history" of a period, the latter part of which I lived through. Meticulously researched, well-written though not exactly a page-turner. I had not previously realized the impact these men, collectively, had on their era.