Schlesinger, Arthur M. (Jr.)

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1960
ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER, JR.
to be Doctor of Civil Law

Professor of History, its active proponent and most eloquent recorder, Arthur Schlesinger (junior) does us the greater honour in coming here. A fighting Democrat, he has torn himself from his embattled party to address an audience across the border and aloof from the fray.

He is one of Harvard's brighter ornaments. His first masterpiece he had written while a junior Fellow at his Alma Mater, and revised while on war service at Washington. Published in 1945, when he was only 28, The Age of Jackson won him the Pulitzer Prize and fame as an historian of the highest order. Three years ago he produced Volume I of what promises to be the profoundest document for recent American history. Opinions may and do differ over the more subjective sections of his The Age of Roosevelt, but critics and admirers unite in praise of its fine prologue, its unforgettable portraits, and the vivid etching of the two protagonists.

While still devouring Volume II, the world looks hungrily up for the third in this massive tetralogy. The author meanwhile practices with gusto what he has preached in his pages, relentlessly nudging democracy into action and the Democratic Party towards its goal. Through the slings and arrows of Press skirmishes and the inevitable slurs of a presidential campaign he batters his way to the fighting line wherever it lies.

For you, Professor Schlesinger, as for Senator Kennedy, our friend and neighbour, we have nothing but admiration. Whatever our personal alignments, we would be craven indeed did we not wish you both all power to your collective elbow, a fair fight in the coming election, and victory to the better man.

From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.