Rescuing the World: The Life and Times of Leo Cherne [Hardcover]

Andrew F. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

A biography of one of America's leading humanitarians who, as an advisor to nine presidents, also had a lasting effect on American foreign policy.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Considered by some a Renaissance man and by others a lightweight gadfly, Leo Cherne's life brimmed with paradox and improbability. Born in the Bronx to a poor, immigrant, Jewish family, Cherne rose to the heights of economic and political power in WASP America. While trained as a lawyer, he made his greatest impact on history in other endeavors. Although not an economist, he annually lectured America's business elite and successfully prognosticated future economic trends for fifty years. He devoted the majority of his time to humanitarian causes, particularly rescuing political refugees, and served as an unofficial advisor to nine presidents. Without formal training, Cherne also became a successful sculptor and his works have graced the Cabinet Room in the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, and numerous museums. A consummate networker, Cherne had the uncanny ability to attract and cultivate talented people before they became prominent, including such figures as John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Patrick Moynihan, Claiborne Pell, Tom Dooley, William Casey, John Whitehead, and Henry A. Kissinger. Although he was a successful entrepreneur, Cherne's real love was humanitarian work, particularly with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which he chaired for forty years. From Hungary to Cuba to Cambodia, Cherne traveled across the globe on behalf of political refugees. He was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 by Ronald Reagan, who proclaimed that although never elected to governmental office, Leo Cherne had more influence on American foreign policy than most elected officials. The underlying theme of his life was that one person, without family contacts or wealthy connections, could make a difference worldwide in political and humanitarian affairs.

About the Author

Andrew F. Smith is the president of The American Forum for Global Education and teaches at The New School University. He is the author of many books, including The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett and International Conflict and the Media.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791453790
• ISBN-13: 978-0791453797
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,620,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Law > International Law > International Disputes

More About the Author

I am a freelance writer and speaker on culinary matters. I teach culinary history and professional food writing at the New School in Manhattan, serve as the General Editor of the Food Series at the University of Illinois Press, and am the general editor for the Edible Series at Reaktion Press in the United Kingdom. I am also the editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia on Food and Drink in America and the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink.

I am a member of the Culinary Historians of New York, the Association for the Study of Food Society (ASFS), and the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). I serve on the editorial board for the ASFS journal, Food, Culture and Society and is the Chairman of The Culinary Trust, the philanthropic arm of IACP.

I have delivered more than fifteen hundred presentations on various educational, historical, and international topics, and has organized seventy-three major conferences. I have been frequently interviewed by and quoted in newspapers, journals and magazines, such as the New York Times, New Yorker, Reader's Digest, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Constitution, Chicago Tribune, Fortune Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. I have been regularly interviewed on radio and television, including National Public Radio and the Food Network. I have served as historical consultant to several television series and appeared in episodes of: the 'Food Essence,' developed by Charles Bishop Productions, Halifax, Canada; 'American Eats' and 'America Drinks,' documentaries regularly broadcast on the History Channel and A&E; 'A Century of Food,' produced by Greystone Communications, Inc., broadcast on the Food Network in January 2001; 'Follow that Food,' series by Gordon Elliot, broadcast on the Food Network; 'What We Eat,' hosted by Burt Wolf and produced by Acorn Productions, currently airing on PBS; 'Ever Wondered about Food' by the BBC; the Food Network's 'Top Five;' Burt Wolf's PBS program on 'Thanksgiving;' Tom Zapeicki's (WBGU) 'Ketchup: King of Condiments' on PBS; Meals in 1776, 1876 and the 1950s, Steve Gillion's History Center's program, 'Eating through American History,' which aired on May 21, 2006 on the History Channel; and Atlas Media's American Eats episodes on 'Salty Snacks,' 'Condiments,' 'Cookies,' 'Chocolate,' 'Canning,' 'Soft Drinks,' 'Holiday Food,' and 'Presidential Food,' which were released on History Channel during the Summer and Fall 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Person Making a Worldwide Difference, August 28, 2002

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rescuing the World: The Life and Times of Leo Cherne (Hardcover)

The name Leo Cherne is not universally known, but though he was never elected to public office, the man was enormously influential. His work can be found all through American endeavors in the last century; he was an advisor to nine presidents. He did remarkable humanitarian work for refugees with his International Rescue Committee. He died in 1999, and his life story reads like a history of the Cold War. His first biography is now out, _Rescuing the World: The Life and Times of Leo Cherne_ (State University of New York Press) by Andrew F. Smith. Smith first met Cherne the year before he died, because Cherne supposedly needed advice about writing his autobiography. Cherne was an accomplished writer, and had started the autobiography a few times. He certainly had plenty of material. But it never happened; "In the end I concluded that the apparently gregarious, outgoing Leo Cherne simply could not write a book about himself because it was unseemly for him to do so." This is a biography of his public life; Cherne refused to discuss stories others told of his private life, so subjects such as his marriage are barely mentioned, and will have to be included in the inevitable future biographies. Cherne was sufficiently busy in the public sphere to make this first attempt a valuable chronicle.

Cherne was born in 1912 of first generation Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. In high school, after a hurricane devastated Puerto Rico, Cherne appointed himself the head of a "Hurricane Committee," addressed a special student assembly on the issue, and started collecting the food and money that poured in afterwards. It was a model for future years: "... quick intervention in seizing the public platform, altruistic motives, positive responses of others, and record-breaking results." After law school, he began advising businessmen on taxes and governmental issues, and became a consultant to companies and to Congress. He advised business how to gear up for war, and gear up for a consumer economy afterward. He became interested in working with refugees after the war. He had humanitarian interest, to be sure, but he also thought of the refugees as political weapons against totalitarianism. If the regime was so perfect, he would point out, why were refugees fleeing? Cherne chaired the International Rescue Committee for forty years, seeing the organization through many financial problems and often personally taking part in relief efforts for refugees from Hungary, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Cuba. Cherne was able to unite diverse talents to support the aims of his International Rescue Committee, and through the book wander helpful volunteers like Rock Hudson, Liv Ullmann, and Joan Baez. Cherne got to speak up on behalf of Hungarian refugees on the Ed Sullivan Show, not a likely forum for humanitarian efforts. He was also a songwriter, and achieved fame as a sculptor. His busts of Kennedy, Lincoln, Churchill and other famous people are known all over the world.

_Rescuing the World_ is a record of remarkable public service. Cherne never had a fortune, and he never held office, but he had passion for freedom and an insistence on liberty for others. He was able to inspire others to good efforts for the world's refugees. Read this book and if you ever hear people bemoaning the world's woes and asking, "What difference can just one person make?" you can ask if they have heard of Leo Cherne.