Arnold Beichman

Arnold Beichman
BornMay 17, 1913 (1913-05-17)
New York City, US
DiedFebruary 16, 2010(2010-02-16) (aged 96)
Pasadena, California, US
Alma materColumbia University (BA, MA, PhD)
Occupation(s)Author, scholar, anti-communist polemicist

Arnold Beichman (May 17, 1913 – February 17, 2010[1]) was an author, scholar, and a critic of communism.[2][3] At the time of his death, he was a Hoover Institution research fellow and a columnist for The Washington Times.

Life and career

Beichman was born on New York City's Lower East Side, in Manhattan, in a family of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He received a B.A. from Columbia University in 1934, after which he succeeded his friend, Arthur Lelyveld, as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator.[4]

Beichman spent many years in journalism, working for the New York Herald Tribune, PM, Newsweek, and others.[1] He returned to Columbia in his 50s to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science, in 1967 and 1973, respectively.

He gave his name to "Beichman's Law," which states: "With the single exception of the American Revolution, the aftermath of all revolutions from 1789 on only worsened the human condition."[5] His Jewish father Solomon Beichman was unhappy, because he wanted Arnold to be a rabbi. [6]

The Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars was in part funded by Beichman's donations.[7]

Publications

Books

  • The "Other" State Department: The United States Mission to the United Nations — Its Role in the Making of Foreign Policy (1968)
  • Nine Lies About America (1972)
Foreword by Tom Wolfe.
Introduction by Robert Conquest.
Foreword by William F. Buckley, Jr.
  • Anti-American Myths: Their Causes and Consequences (1992)
Foreword by Tom Wolfe.

Books edited

With Robert Conquest, John Lewis Gaddis and Richard Pipes.

Articles

With David Horowitz, John O'Sullivan, Eric Breindel and Mark Falcoff.

References

  1. ^ a b Podhoretz, John. "Arnold Beichman, 1913–2010." Commentary, February 18, 2010. Archived from the original.
  2. ^ Hevesi, Dennis. "Arnold Beichman, Political Analyst, Dies at 96"(obituary). The New York Times, March 3, 2010. Archived from the original.
  3. ^ Obituary. The Washington Post, March 9, 2010.
  4. ^ Gram, Margaret Hunt. "Arnold Beichman '34: Anti-Communist Warrior." Columbia College Today, January 2004. Full issue available. Archived from the original.
  5. ^ Beichman, Arnold. "The Lesser Evil."The Washington Times, November 4, 2004. Archived from the original.
  6. ^ "The American Spectator : Arnold Beichman, 1913 – 2010". Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  7. ^ Ostermann, Christian F. (ed.) Back cover. Cold War International History Project Bulletin, No. 16, Fall 2007/Winter 2008.
  8. ^ Campbell, John C. Review of The Long Pretense: Soviet Treaty Diplomacy from Lenin to Gorbachev.Foreign Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 3, Summer 1991, p. 174. doi:10.2307/20044868. JSTOR 20044868. Archived from the original.

Further reading