Arthur Schlesinger 1917-2007

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George Tames / The New York Times

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He was America's jaunty celebrity historian. Schlesinger, a bow-tied liberal centrist, didn't just record history — he helped make it. He published influential studies of crucial presidencies, notably Andrew Jackson's and Franklin D. Roosevelt's. And he wrote about John F. Kennedy from close range, as a White House "special assistant" who advised on policy. His notes from those years became the basis for A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, which won him the second of two Pulitzer Prizes.

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Next: Sidney Sheldon 1917-2007 >>

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Person of the Year 2007

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