A Review of Bernard Baruch's "The Public Years"
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Published July 2, 2021
Updated on November 16, 2022 |
“Democracy is, as Wilson knew, the most difficult form of government. It must be accompanied by self-discipline and the spirit of reason. It cannot be bestowed upon a people; it certainly cannot be imposed upon them. They must win it and deserve it. It cannot even be taken by them and effectively used if they are not sufficiently prepared and mature.
"This is a fact which nations newly come to independence and those aspiring to it should remember.”
"This is a fact which nations newly come to independence and those aspiring to it should remember.”
Bernard Baruch, The Public Years
A Review of "The Public Years" by Bernard Baruch
- Reviews of the Day: 1960
- Selected Quotes from "The Public Years"
- This Author’s Thoughts and Perceptions
Reviews of the Day: 1960
"The great value of The Public Years does not lie in its revelations of what important people said or did. It is valuable chiefly because it develops a philosophy of service based upon a wise man’s own account of a useful and rewarding life."
Theodore Long, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1960
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"Baruch’s book is ostensibly autobiographical. In essence, however, it is sweeping panorama of the major domestic and foreign issues, changes and events which marked this nation’s being from the early Wilson days until the present … It gives the reader an intimate picture of high officials covering a span of almost 50 years. It is a tremendously educating and entertaining book for anyone interested in the events which have made our world what it is today."
John Hamner, The Montgomery Advertiser, 1960
"The U.S. was not prepared for the First World War. It was not prepared for the second, nor was it prepared for the Korean conflict. … [Baruch] has no faith in disarmament agreements without safeguards. … At a time when so many bemused idealists and parlor intellectuals are running around preaching isolationism, neutralism and unilateral disarmament, the history which Mr. Baruch … expresses is refreshing."
Parker Kent, The Calgary Herald, 1960
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Selected Quotes and Insights from "The Public Years"
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“There is no more priceless possession than independence.”
Bernard M Baruch
“When in doubt do right.”
Attributed to Senator Claude Swanson
Chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee “Outstanding talent can make any organization work. I have seen too many organizations fail, in business and in government, because more attention was given to tables of organization and operating handbooks than to finding the right men for the job.”
Bernard M. Baruch
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“I have learned in my long life that you can be friends with and admire even the people you disagree with most, if they are honest”
Bernard M. Baruch
Bernard Baruch: On Woodrow Wilson
“Wilson literally worked himself to the bone, and everybody else to a standstill in Paris. Most of us could find some time for rest and relaxation. I had a place outside Paris where, on weekends, I could catch a few hours of leisure. But the President had no respite. Almost every question—whether it was over the disposition of colonies, the definition of boundaries, or the establishment of the League—was hammered out in frustrating, often bitter debate.
“On more than one occasion it seemed the Conference would break up; once Wilson ordered the George Washington to make ready to take him home. It was not only the sheer physical labor involved in these conferences, discussions, briefings, speeches—the fourteen to sixteen hours a day that he worked—that wore down his never robust health. It was the spiritual travail as well, the emotional frustration of the struggle to fulfill his conception of the peace.
Read a review of Herbert Hoover's "The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson."
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“The violent attacks against him in the press; the bitter quarrels; the unrelenting demands from every side for some minor advantage which meant violating a major principle—the evidence on every hand of the ignoble, grasping nature of men and nations.
"It was all this which made the conference, as Herbert Hoover put it in the title of his revealing, cogent book, 'The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson.' ” Bernard M. Baruch, The Public Years, 1960
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This Author's Thoughts and Perceptions
Having a degree in political science from the University of Texas, I was amazed that this book wasn’t on someone’s mandatory reading list during my last three years at The University—forty plus years ago. In the 70s, it would have been only a decade old. I was offered courses in Marxism, courses in economics, courses in philosophy, history and two-party systems, but nothing was as comprehensive as this single book. It was worth the sum of many of these courses.
Bernie Baruch’s perspective was far more informative on these presidents than the professors who sounded off about our presidents but had never worked with them. (Walt Rostow’s economic course, may he rest in peace, was a major exception … it was like sitting at the feet of an economic Plato—who I didn’t need to agree with to enjoy his insights, ideas, and philosophies. … more on that in one of Bernie’s quotes.)
Bernie Baruch’s perspective was far more informative on these presidents than the professors who sounded off about our presidents but had never worked with them. (Walt Rostow’s economic course, may he rest in peace, was a major exception … it was like sitting at the feet of an economic Plato—who I didn’t need to agree with to enjoy his insights, ideas, and philosophies. … more on that in one of Bernie’s quotes.)
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This book offers some wonderful perspectives into those presidents who so many want to judge today while holding up a rear-view mirror on history. Unfortunately, most of the soothsayers see behind them as clearly as clairvoyants gaze ahead in crystal balls. The former, without the right amount of thorough study, make their mirrors little more than flat orbuculums filled with smoke and deceptive twists and turns.
The perspective this book brings to the reader is best expressed in one of Baruch’s multitude of great insights: |
History through a blurry mirror
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There is very little difference between the “great” man and the “common” man. . . . The more one approaches great men the more one finds that they are men.
Of course, Baruch was a man too. He wrote in his first book, My Own Story, that an autobiography should be written early enough to allow the individuals commented on to share their comments back. Fortunately for Mr. Baruch, he was 90 years old at the time of publication of The Public Years. I did not find any commentary from those he wrote about in this book.
After all, he had outlived most of them. On the whole, though, his commentary seemed balanced and it was an easy read.
After all, he had outlived most of them. On the whole, though, his commentary seemed balanced and it was an easy read.
Letting Bernie speak for himself and to “us” today
Bernie maintained his independence. He believed that there was no more priceless possession than financial independence so that one could speak freely and honestly. I couldn’t agree more. He loved his “outsider” role, and the impression is that he did not maintain this role to escape responsibility (he was nailed many times by the press and his opponents) but to enforce responsibility on those he advised … an idea his first two quotes convey:
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Further research on Elbert H. Gary provided a different perspective from Baruch's. Select this sidebar to read a "Second Look" at this story.
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- “Democracy is, as Wilson knew, the most difficult form of government. It must be accompanied by self-discipline and the spirit of reason. It cannot be bestowed upon a people; it certainly cannot be imposed upon them. They must win it and deserve it. It cannot even be taken by them and effectively used if they are not sufficiently prepared and mature. This is a fact which nations newly come to independence and those aspiring to it should remember.”
- “There seems to be a pendulum in the life of nations that swings from idealism to cynicism.”
I will leave this last thought with you as it seems we are in one of those "pendulum swings" in our country today. I hope to be alive when my country swings back to "idealism."
Read the book with an open mind. Surely environments change but human nature evolves. This book was a fascinating complementary read to his first book. I would recommend this book over his first, but that is the political science major in me - revealed.
Cheers,
- Pete
Read the book with an open mind. Surely environments change but human nature evolves. This book was a fascinating complementary read to his first book. I would recommend this book over his first, but that is the political science major in me - revealed.
Cheers,
- Pete