Monday, June 04, 2012

Racism Among the Establishment

Conservatives often point out quite fairly that eugenics was often a strong thread of Progressive thought:  it fit the Progressive optimism that everything can be understood and once understood can be improved.

However, I just finished the Jean Smith bio of Eisenhower.  It was interesting, moves along very well, sides with Montgomery in a couple instances and accuses Ike of spin (heaven forbid) in places, thinks well of Ike generally, but has a few howlers of errors which one may perhaps forgive on account of the author's advancing age (1.6 million sq ft in the White House?).

Back to racism: the pre-WWII military officer class was part of the WASP establishment (Patton loaned Stimson his horses to ride) and racism was common throughout, though not necessarily in the bedroom (witness McArthur and his mistress).  This isn't a theme of Smith's, but it comes through in several places.

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