The Last Gentleman: Thomas Hughes and the End of the American Century

(Paperback)

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In this impressive biography, Bruce L. R. Smith tells the story of this remarkable life, which also reflects much of the story of America in the last half of the twentieth century.

Through the eyes, diary, and notes of a key participant, the book provides a contemporaneous perspective on such major events as the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the CIAs Operation Mongoose against the Castro regime, the Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam, and the elections of the 1960s. This book is a firsthand, behind-the-scenes account of the people who dealt with the great issues and made critical life-and-death decisions for America during the cold war.

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Reviews

"If there is anyone in Washington who can credibly lay claim to the moniker of "smartest person in the room"--any room, anytime--it is Tom Hughes. There is also a good chance, in most rooms he steps into, that he is the funniest, the best piano player, and has the clearest memory for historical detail. Intellectual historian Bruce L. R. Smith has taken on the task of telling the life story of Thomas L. Hughes, child prodigy and Minnesota state debate champion, essential political adviser and liberal internationalist, and the man who brought the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace into the modern era, along the way creating a new model for the "think tank." To understand how America slipped and fell from grace in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and how people like Hughes tried behind the scenes to prevent it from happening, this astute biography should be at the top of your reading list."
--Sanford J. Ungar, former managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine and former director of the Voice of America; director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University

"Tom Hughes epitomized the best of America during the Cold War. Whether in government or a think tank, he always accented freedom, justice, and the pursuit of democracy as the proper goals of American policy and was among the first to warn of the dangers of a deeper involvement in Vietnam. Hearty thanks to author Bruce Smith for this terrific book."
--Marvin Kalb, nonresident senior fellow, Brookings Institution

"Tom Hughes had a ringside view of history, serving in the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations during tumultuous times. Bruce Smith tells his tale well with both careful documentation and fascinating anecdotes. It is a very good read."
--Joseph S. Nye Jr., former dean, Harvard Kennedy School

Author Bio

Bruce L. R. Smith is a retired professor political science at Columbia University and senior staff member at the Brookings Institution. His work has been in the fields of American politics, American foreign policy, and the impact of science on public affairs. His previous books include Lincoln Gordon: Architect of Cold War Foreign Policy; Closed Minds Politics and Ideology in American Universities (with J. D. Mayer and A. L. Fritschler); The Advisers: Scientists in the Policy, American Science Policy Since World War II; and The RAND Corporation: Case Study of a Nonprofit Advisory Corporation.