Bøker av Robert Schmuhl

Scores of biographies have been written about Winston Churchill, yet none examine his frequent, sometimes furtive, trips to the White House, where he resided for weeks on end-the (often unclothed) visitor who "dropped out of the sky." These extended visits during his two terms as prime minister were spirited, even entertaining, occasions. Yet, in retrospect, they take on a new level of diplomatic significance, demonstrating just how influential a foreign leader can become in shaping American foreign policy. Drawing on years of research, Robert Schmuhl not only contextualises the days Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower spent together, but also vividly portrays the individual characters, from Churchill himself-a devoted fisherman who never stopped "angling"-to a resentful Eleanor Roosevelt. Evoking an era far different from today, Mr. Churchill in the White House becomes an insightful work for our own fractious times.

Originally published in 1966, Lerner's study is an introduction to both Tocqueville's life and thought. . The new introduction by Robert Schmuhl traces the influence of Tocqueville on Lerner, showing how Democracy in America became an abiding point of reference in Lerner's thinking about the United States and the world at large.

The Glory and the Burden: The American Presidency from FDR to Trump is a timely examination of the state of the American presidency and the forces that have shaped it over the past seventy-five years, with an emphasis on the dramatic changes that have taken place within the institution and to the individuals occupying the Oval Office.In this fascinating book, Robert Schmuhl traces the evolution of the modern presidency back to the terms of Franklin Roosevelt, maintaining that FDR's White House years had a profound impact on the office, resulting in significant changes to the job and to those who have performed it since. Specifically, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms, has largely redefined each administration's agenda. News sources and social media have also grown exponentially, exercising influence over the conduct of presidents and affecting the consequences of their behavior.Schmuhl examines the presidency as an institution and the presidents as individuals from several different perspectives. He identifies recent trends in the office and probes the relationship between the White House and various forms of contemporary media. This book is an engrossing read for a general audience, particularly those with an interest in politics, American history, journalism, and communications.

For over half a century, Robert Schmuhl interviewed and wrote about Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., who served as the president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 until 1987. Beginning as an undergraduate student during the 1960s, when he covered Hesburgh and Notre Dame for the Associated Press, to 2014 when he conducted his last visit with the frail ninety-seven-year-old priest, Schmuhl maintained a unique relationship with Father Hesburgh. Over time, Hesburgh's meetings with Schmuhl evolved into a friendship, which is documented in this personal and warmhearted portrait of the man who was for decades considered the most influential priest in America. Fifty Years with Father Hesburgh: On and Off the Record contains excerpts and commentary from various interviews Schmuhl conducted with Father Hesburgh about his service as Notre Dame's president, including the most difficult years of his presidency during the 1960s, when Notre Dame and other college campuses were in turmoil because of student protests against the Vietnam War and other issues. Knowing and working with four popes and nine U.S. presidents, Father Hesburgh was a moral force in virtually all major social issues of his day, including civil rights, peaceful uses of atomic energy, third-world development, and immigration reform. Schmuhl records Hesburgh's candid reflections on the U.S. presidents with whom he worked and his assessment of the years after he left the university's presidency and maintained an active life of service in retirement. Schmuhl expresses his devotion and respect in the chapters about Hesburgh's twilight decades. He describes how Hesburgh dealt with macular degeneration and blindness in his later years, enlisting students to read the New York Times and other publications to him. During the 1990s and the first years of the twenty-first century, Father Ted was, as he liked to say, "e;everybody's grandfather."e; His open-door policy extended beyond students to faculty, staff, alumni, and campus visitors, and continued right up until the end of his life. Throughout the book, Schmuhl captures the essence, spirit, and humanity of a great leader.

In this second edition of Statecraft and Stagecraft Robert Schmuhl brings up to date his provocative exploration of the involvement of the media in our public life by including a new chapter on the Persian Gulf War.

This series of eight provocative essays examines why Americans have a penchant for going to extremes in their arts, popular culture, politics, social movements, and other aspects of life. Robert Schmuhl considers historical examples (the hunting of the buffalo in the West, Prohibition, business ventures in the Gilded Age) but concentrates on contemporary subjects, including the emphasis on what shocks the audience as entertainment today, tensions among specific groups, the decline of private life, and the excesses of news media coverage in the O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky stories. Indecent Liberties explores the dangers and consequences of carrying fundamental American freedoms too far. In this environment, achieving a public good can get lost in a frenzy of private gain or a worthwhile idea can be pushed to unrecognizable boundaries, producing the opposite of its intended effect. When an attitude of "e;anything goes"e; takes hold, a sense of limits gets lost, and it is different to achieve harmony or a center that holds. Especially as we face a new century with talk of "e;hyperdemocracy"e; and "e;hypercommunications"e; common in intellectual circles, Indecent Liberties argues that seeking equilibrium should be a central objective for all Americans. To go to wretched excess can lead to "e;indecent liberties"e; and wretched results that throw the country off balance and endanger the future. This book asks questions about today and yesterday that require answers for tomorrow. This insightful analysis of a distinct American characteristic is for every reader concerned with America's penchant for going to extremes in ways that produce debatable, even deplorable, consequences.