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Spanning the Century: The Life of W. Averell Harriman, 1891-1986
Looks at the life and work of the financier and politician, describing his privileged upbringing, his business success, and his tenure as governor of New York
779 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1992
About the author
Rudy Abramson
5 books1 followerA graduate of the University of Mississippi, Rudy Paulk Abramson was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times from 1965 until 1993. In retirement, he served as executive director of Protect Historic America and co-edited The Encyclopedia of Appalachia.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 10, 2019
After reading “The Marshall Plan” by Benn Steil, I discovered I knew little about two men who were key to that time in history. They were Averell Harriman (1891-1986) and Dean Acheson (1893-1971). I obtained biographies of both men.
Averell Harriman’s life and career spanned an interesting and fast changing time from 1898 to 1986. I have discovered in my reading that Harry Truman, George Marshall, Arthur Vandenberg, George Kennan, Dean Acheson and Averell Harriman all played a key role in developing and implementing the Marshall Plan. George Kennan had analytical and strategic brilliance. Dean Acheson had a commanding presence and international skill. Harriman had a legendary one-on-one negotiating skill. He had an uncanny sense of what, as a negotiator, would work and what would not. He acquired this skill as a railroad and shipping magnate as well as a banker and financier. These men made a magnificent team.
Harriman’s life covered so much history and was intertwined with the key upper echelon people of the time. I kept coming across interesting information such as Harriman and George Herbert Walker (Bush family) were partners in the racing of several Thoroughbred race horses. Harriman had bought out August Belmont’s racing and breeding stables from the Belmont Estate. I am going to keep this book for reference as it contains so much information about the time.
The hardback book is 779 pages. It is well documented and index. There are lots of photographs. My only complaint is that for a hardback book I wished the type was larger. The book was published in 1992 by William Morrow and Company.
Averell Harriman’s life and career spanned an interesting and fast changing time from 1898 to 1986. I have discovered in my reading that Harry Truman, George Marshall, Arthur Vandenberg, George Kennan, Dean Acheson and Averell Harriman all played a key role in developing and implementing the Marshall Plan. George Kennan had analytical and strategic brilliance. Dean Acheson had a commanding presence and international skill. Harriman had a legendary one-on-one negotiating skill. He had an uncanny sense of what, as a negotiator, would work and what would not. He acquired this skill as a railroad and shipping magnate as well as a banker and financier. These men made a magnificent team.
Harriman’s life covered so much history and was intertwined with the key upper echelon people of the time. I kept coming across interesting information such as Harriman and George Herbert Walker (Bush family) were partners in the racing of several Thoroughbred race horses. Harriman had bought out August Belmont’s racing and breeding stables from the Belmont Estate. I am going to keep this book for reference as it contains so much information about the time.
The hardback book is 779 pages. It is well documented and index. There are lots of photographs. My only complaint is that for a hardback book I wished the type was larger. The book was published in 1992 by William Morrow and Company.
March 18, 2013
The life of Averell Harriman is most interesting and encompasses a wide range of events; from capitalist enterprises inherited from his father to meeting with Stalin and Churchill. He was an aid to several democratic presidents – Roosevelt through to Lyndon Johnson.
Unfortunately he seemed to enjoy more the fruits of power rather than the equitable management of power. With both Roosevelt and Truman he was an astute negotiator and advisor. He warned both of them of the danger of Stalin – particularly of his ambitions for Eastern Europe. By the time he entered the Johnson administration he was all too fawning – afraid to contradict the President, mostly with regards to the all-corrosive Vietnam policy. In private he was suspicious and wary of American involvement, but publicly he supported Johnson and dared not contradict the President for fear of losing his position. For this his career suffered form a lack of moral unrighteousness. By contrast McNamara lost his job once he realized the futility of continued military escalation.
It is sad because Harriman was enormously successful as a Lend-Lease conduit for the U.S. to Britain and the U.S.S.R. during World War II.
Harriman participated in futile negotiations with the Vietnamese to end the war. History shows, retrospectively, that the North Vietnamese were not interested and their only concern was unification with South Vietnam.
The author – at the beginning of Harriman’s life over-indulges on his sports career (polo and yachting) and business ventures. His diplomatic career far outshines his early capitalist enterprises. In a very real sense here was a rich and wealthy man who discovered his real calling helping his country to fight Nazism and Fascism. His early business career provided him with the necessary skills to meet and deal with world leaders. Also, Harriman, before joining the Roosevelt team was a world traveler, he had been to the Soviet Union to try to establish business opportunities.
Unfortunately he seemed to enjoy more the fruits of power rather than the equitable management of power. With both Roosevelt and Truman he was an astute negotiator and advisor. He warned both of them of the danger of Stalin – particularly of his ambitions for Eastern Europe. By the time he entered the Johnson administration he was all too fawning – afraid to contradict the President, mostly with regards to the all-corrosive Vietnam policy. In private he was suspicious and wary of American involvement, but publicly he supported Johnson and dared not contradict the President for fear of losing his position. For this his career suffered form a lack of moral unrighteousness. By contrast McNamara lost his job once he realized the futility of continued military escalation.
It is sad because Harriman was enormously successful as a Lend-Lease conduit for the U.S. to Britain and the U.S.S.R. during World War II.
Harriman participated in futile negotiations with the Vietnamese to end the war. History shows, retrospectively, that the North Vietnamese were not interested and their only concern was unification with South Vietnam.
The author – at the beginning of Harriman’s life over-indulges on his sports career (polo and yachting) and business ventures. His diplomatic career far outshines his early capitalist enterprises. In a very real sense here was a rich and wealthy man who discovered his real calling helping his country to fight Nazism and Fascism. His early business career provided him with the necessary skills to meet and deal with world leaders. Also, Harriman, before joining the Roosevelt team was a world traveler, he had been to the Soviet Union to try to establish business opportunities.
March 13, 2021
Alternative titles for this biography could be “Great Power Groupie” and “The Decline and Fall of Averell Harriman”. Born to one of the richest men in the world in 1891, one could argue that Honest Ave had nowhere to go but down. Educated at Groton and Yale, he was groomed to inherit the Union Pacific Railroad Empire but he would not allow himself to be a one-trick pony. The book is well organized around his various pursuits with chapter titles reflecting his straying interests: Ships; Mines; Playboy; Banker; Trainman, etc.
Following his sister’s lead and the politics of the day, he becomes an FDR man during the New Deal Era, leveraging synergies with his industrial background to mobilize workers to fight the Great Depression and later mobilizing soldiers and equipment to fight the Nazis. He maneuvers himself into the role of FDR’s Lend-Lease Ambassador to Europe, later Ambassador to the Soviet Union, then Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He becomes a trusted confidant of Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and whispers in FDR’s ear at Yalta. Having successfully transitioned from the robber baron days of the early 20th Century to the Big Government of the 1930s and War Years, Harriman then begins what can be seen as his long and slow decline. From Ambassador with direct access to world leaders to Secretary of Commerce under Truman to Assistant Secretary of State and Under Secretary of State under Kennedy. In between, he becomes Governor of New York for one term through a pact with Tammany Hall and its old-fashioned precinct politics.
What is impressive about Harriman is that he never stops. At 85, with the help of his protégé Richard Holbrooke, he inserts himself as an advisor to the Carter Administration. At 93, he receives the Soviet Union’s Medal of the Patriotic War from long-time Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. He never let ideology get in the way of his access to power. Like Joe Alsop from my recent read “The Georgetown Set”, Harriman stands with LBJ to the last, defending the Vietnam War. This is ironic given that Harriman was closely allied with Robert Kennedy and had to put more effort into currying favor with LBJ than with any other President for which he worked. Like an entire generation, Vietnam would be his worst mistake. But, it was a compromise he was willing to make. When pressed by Chester Cooper to criticize LBJ, he replies, “Maybe you can say it, and maybe you will say it. But I won’t, and that’s why you are out on the street, and I’m still here.” The heir to the robber baron’s fortune had certainly come full circle to the consummate bureaucratic perspective.
Harriman seems to be at the center of all the important events of his time, so the biography’s title “Spanning the Century” is appropriate. But the reader is naturally curious whether he is actually helping to make history or simply butting to the front of the line to have a front row seat, or to appear uninvited on the stage. To answer this question, the biography provides glimpses into how events turn out when Harriman is in charge or on his own. For example, on August 24, 1963, when JFK, his Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense were all traveling outside of Washington, Harriman authorizes a cable to the American Ambassador in Vietnam authorizing support for a coup against the South Vietnam government. In 1962, Harriman was the lead US negotiator for an effort to ensure the neutrality of Laos. The US and North Vietnamese officially withdrew their troops from the areas in question but no mechanism was established to verify compliance. The trail which the North Vietnamese continued to use through Laos was dubbed the ‘Harriman Highway’. As Governor of New York, Harriman’s tenure was not notable except for maintaining a balanced budget. He was not a gifted orator and his early choices to back for Presidential nominations proved no political skill.
In summary, I must conclude that Harriman was exactly what he would have appeared to be when he first entered the political realm under FDR: a son of privilege following the trends of the times. After using his family and class connections to make himself relevant, the rest of his career simply built on his previous access to world leaders gained from those connections. He was obsessed with power and being close to power, not because he had anything of merit to add, but just because he enjoyed the fame and limelight. This explains his unquestioned loyalty even in the most extreme cases such as to LBJ during the Vietnam War. It also explains his choices of wives and lovers. As if to confirm his closeness to the Great Powers, he courts Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law even though she is 30 years younger than he is. They in fact marry decades later but even that can be interpreted as another attempt to confirm Harriman’s place in history.
The biography is very well written and extremely informative. As Harriman is in fact at the center of so many important historical events, the book does help to tie the mid-Century together. But, as his life was generally a superficial one of waiting around in offices and hotel conference rooms, it offers little broader understanding of the context of these events, their motivations or implications.
Following his sister’s lead and the politics of the day, he becomes an FDR man during the New Deal Era, leveraging synergies with his industrial background to mobilize workers to fight the Great Depression and later mobilizing soldiers and equipment to fight the Nazis. He maneuvers himself into the role of FDR’s Lend-Lease Ambassador to Europe, later Ambassador to the Soviet Union, then Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He becomes a trusted confidant of Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and whispers in FDR’s ear at Yalta. Having successfully transitioned from the robber baron days of the early 20th Century to the Big Government of the 1930s and War Years, Harriman then begins what can be seen as his long and slow decline. From Ambassador with direct access to world leaders to Secretary of Commerce under Truman to Assistant Secretary of State and Under Secretary of State under Kennedy. In between, he becomes Governor of New York for one term through a pact with Tammany Hall and its old-fashioned precinct politics.
What is impressive about Harriman is that he never stops. At 85, with the help of his protégé Richard Holbrooke, he inserts himself as an advisor to the Carter Administration. At 93, he receives the Soviet Union’s Medal of the Patriotic War from long-time Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. He never let ideology get in the way of his access to power. Like Joe Alsop from my recent read “The Georgetown Set”, Harriman stands with LBJ to the last, defending the Vietnam War. This is ironic given that Harriman was closely allied with Robert Kennedy and had to put more effort into currying favor with LBJ than with any other President for which he worked. Like an entire generation, Vietnam would be his worst mistake. But, it was a compromise he was willing to make. When pressed by Chester Cooper to criticize LBJ, he replies, “Maybe you can say it, and maybe you will say it. But I won’t, and that’s why you are out on the street, and I’m still here.” The heir to the robber baron’s fortune had certainly come full circle to the consummate bureaucratic perspective.
Harriman seems to be at the center of all the important events of his time, so the biography’s title “Spanning the Century” is appropriate. But the reader is naturally curious whether he is actually helping to make history or simply butting to the front of the line to have a front row seat, or to appear uninvited on the stage. To answer this question, the biography provides glimpses into how events turn out when Harriman is in charge or on his own. For example, on August 24, 1963, when JFK, his Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense were all traveling outside of Washington, Harriman authorizes a cable to the American Ambassador in Vietnam authorizing support for a coup against the South Vietnam government. In 1962, Harriman was the lead US negotiator for an effort to ensure the neutrality of Laos. The US and North Vietnamese officially withdrew their troops from the areas in question but no mechanism was established to verify compliance. The trail which the North Vietnamese continued to use through Laos was dubbed the ‘Harriman Highway’. As Governor of New York, Harriman’s tenure was not notable except for maintaining a balanced budget. He was not a gifted orator and his early choices to back for Presidential nominations proved no political skill.
In summary, I must conclude that Harriman was exactly what he would have appeared to be when he first entered the political realm under FDR: a son of privilege following the trends of the times. After using his family and class connections to make himself relevant, the rest of his career simply built on his previous access to world leaders gained from those connections. He was obsessed with power and being close to power, not because he had anything of merit to add, but just because he enjoyed the fame and limelight. This explains his unquestioned loyalty even in the most extreme cases such as to LBJ during the Vietnam War. It also explains his choices of wives and lovers. As if to confirm his closeness to the Great Powers, he courts Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law even though she is 30 years younger than he is. They in fact marry decades later but even that can be interpreted as another attempt to confirm Harriman’s place in history.
The biography is very well written and extremely informative. As Harriman is in fact at the center of so many important historical events, the book does help to tie the mid-Century together. But, as his life was generally a superficial one of waiting around in offices and hotel conference rooms, it offers little broader understanding of the context of these events, their motivations or implications.
November 18, 2024
A fascinating look into a man who, on behalf of the Presidents at the time, was personally involved in dealing with the major events that took place during his lifetime: The Depression, WWII, the Korean War, The Oil Crisis, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War.
Harriman worked directly for FIVE Presidents in special assignments: FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and finally Carter.
This is an excellent biography as it covers the large spectrum in which Harriman found himself engaged in during his lifetime.
Harriman played a major role during WWII with his personal interactions with Churchill and Stalin at the request of FDR and then Truman... he was a key part in making many things happen that otherwise might not have and it could have changed the course of the outcome of the war.
Fascinating life.
On his tombstone under his name the following words tell the story of his life:
PATRIOT, PUBLIC SERVANT, STATESMAN...
Harriman worked directly for FIVE Presidents in special assignments: FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and finally Carter.
This is an excellent biography as it covers the large spectrum in which Harriman found himself engaged in during his lifetime.
Harriman played a major role during WWII with his personal interactions with Churchill and Stalin at the request of FDR and then Truman... he was a key part in making many things happen that otherwise might not have and it could have changed the course of the outcome of the war.
Fascinating life.
On his tombstone under his name the following words tell the story of his life:
PATRIOT, PUBLIC SERVANT, STATESMAN...
October 12, 2021
Quality overview of an American whose life intersects with many historic events. My favorite chapter was on Iran. Interesting to see the Truman administration up close. To be bad Harriman was cheap, and lost in 1958.
August 5, 2025
Excellent biography of the leading statesman of the 20th Century! And the only one.
January 21, 2015
Ever wonder about the Harriman exit on the NYS thruway? Well, I now know more about Averill Harriman than most, and after reading Citizens of London, this was a real primer on Mr Harriman. The book was well written and documented and as a history buff I really enjoyed learning about this time period and Harriman's contribution to WW2 and beyond. If you liked this book I do recommend Citizens of London by Lynne Olson.
April 12, 2014
Fascinating read of one of the truly great men that many have forgotten. His remarkable career and life are worth reading. Well written and full of information that few have written about. Should be in every history fans library.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews