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Walter Isaacson

Evan Thomas

The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made Paperback – June 4, 1997

by Walter Isaacson (Author), Evan Thomas (Author)

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A captivating blend of personal biography and public drama, The Wise Men introduces the original best and brightest, leaders whose outsized personalities and actions brought order to postwar chaos: Averell Harriman, the freewheeling diplomat and Roosevelt's special envoy to Churchill and Stalin; Dean Acheson, the secretary of state who was more responsible for the Truman Doctrine than Truman and for the Marshall Plan than General Marshall; George Kennan, self-cast outsider and intellectual darling of the Washington elite; Robert Lovett, assistant secretary of war, undersecretary of state, and secretary of defense throughout the formative years of the Cold War; John McCloy, one of the nation's most influential private citizens; and Charles Bohlen, adroit diplomat and ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Print length

864 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

June 4, 1997
Dimensions

6.12 x 1.6 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0684837714
ISBN-13

978-0684837710
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About the Author

Walter Isaacson, the CEO of the Aspen Institute, has been chairman of CNN and the managing editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Kissinger: A Biography. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter.

Evan Thomas is the author of The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the C.I.A., a book about the careers of Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes and Desmond FitzGerald; Robert Kennedy: His Life; The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst and the Rush to Empire, 1989; Sea of Thunder: The Last Great Naval Command, 1941-1945; and John Paul Jones. He is at work on a book about President Dwight Eisenhower.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (June 4, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 864 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684837714
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684837710
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.33 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 1.6 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,241,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19,576 in Political Science (Books)
- #27,744 in United States Biographies
- #108,759 in United States History (Books)

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472 ratings

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Walter Isaacson
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Walter Isaacson, University Professor of History at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Leonardo da Vinci; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography. He is also the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made.
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Evan Thomas
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Evan Thomas is one of the most respected historians and journalists writing today. He is the bestselling author of ten works of nonfiction: First: Sandra Day O’Connor, Being Nixon, Ike's Bluff, The War Lovers, Sea of Thunder, John Paul Jones, Robert Kennedy, The Very Best Men, The Man to See, and The Wise Men (with Walter Isaacson). Thomas was an editor and writer at Newsweek for 24 years, where he wrote more than a hundred cover stories.
Thomas has won numerous journalism awards, including a National Magazine Award in 1998. In 2005, his 50,000-word narrative of the 2004 election was honored when Newsweek won a National Magazine Award for the best single-topic issue.
Thomas is a fellow of the Society of American Historians and has taught writing at Princeton and Harvard. He is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School. He lives with his wife and two children in Washington, DC.
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Joseph Sciuto

A MUST READ

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019

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"The Wise Men: Six Friends and The World They Made," is an extraordinary, thought-provoking, and captivating look at the six men, most of whom were graduates of the famous Groton school and later graduates of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton who helped shape American foreign policy for way over fifty years. Often working in the private sector as bankers, Wall Street Insiders, and Railroad Tycoons they immediately responded to the call whenever their government and president sought their advice and council... Taking government jobs as Secretary of State, Ambassadors, Secretary of War, and National Security Advisor... Working for Presidents FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Ronald Reagan. They differed in political philosophy, some leaning left while others leaned right; yet together they were the chief architectures of the Marshal Plan, convincing President Truman about the importance of rebuilding Western Europe after World War 2, despite Congressional and public reluctance to the idea, keeping lines of communication open with the Soviet Union, despite its aggressive takeover of Eastern Europe, building the alliance that came to be called NATO, and which was a major deterrant to Soviet aggression and fighting Communism wherever it spread leading us into two unpopular wars in Korea and Vietnam.

The six men, Averell Harriman, Dean Acheson, George Kennan, Robert Lovett, John McCloy and Charles Bohlen are hardly household names, even to individuals who think of themselves as knowledgable about American history, but their contributions to American greatness and America's status as a World Power is undeniable and as a nation we should be thankful for their unselfish duty to country... even if at times their philosophy and policies lead us down the wrong path.

A must read. Highly recommend.

30 people found this helpful

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Dennis L. Harris

Where Have They Gone ?

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2021

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After reading this fully engrossed story of these great patriots,one has to be depressed and sad and worried at the state of our democracy.
Our politicians are shallow,opportunists ,who for the most part have no moral compass and listen to the rabble and hatred of the mob..
This book should be required reading for our college students..then perhaps they will see the light,educate themselves and carry forth the goodness that America once promised and mostly delivered

15 people found this helpful

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SC

A Great Collaboration from Thomas and Isaacson

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2017

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I'm a fan of both Thomas and Isaacson so I went into this wish really high expectations and this detailed book didn't disappoint. If you've read any of Evan Thomas' books such as " The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA " or " Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 " then you will be familiar with his style of tracing the lives of several characters in one book. I have always enjoyed his style of biography that shifts from character to character in different chapters. Great read.

25 people found this helpful

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Bruce in Fort Myers

Great look at 1920-1980

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2020

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As someone who is to the right politically than the authors I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

I felt as though the authors missed the boat with Reagan and his relationship to the soviets, thankfully it was a very small part of the overall book. The authors suffered from a 1980s liberal anathema of all things Reagan and history proved them wrong about the efficacy of his policies. The antipathy towards Reagan has the authors offering up an almost naive view of the Soviets and it was my only issue with the book. Common sense AND HISTORY proves my point and is shown by the benign attitude the authors have towards Yuri Andropov, a former KGB head and a serious problem regarding freedom for people in Eastern Europe, and for the world.

Having said my piece above I still give the book 5 stars due to how much I loved how the authors gave us the feel of the times and how our six heroes dealt with all of it's issues and crises.

Being a Dean Acheson fan I found his part of the book fascinating and it just reinforced all of my prior thoughts about this giant of the 20th century. I feel as if there should be a movie made of Acheson as a way to introduce him to today's students and others...but I know it will never happen. Anyone who doesn't know Dean Acheson should read some books by or about him.

Being a fan of the time period I of course was familiar with Averell Harriman, but I wasn't aware of exactly what a giant of the times he was. As the book progressed I found myself thinking that he was an opportunist, a man that wanted "it" to be all about him, but as the book progressed I came to respect him more and more. This is especially true when he did not get his coveted Secretary of State position and yet never tried to torpedo Acheson, who did get the job. This is so unlike today and that is a shame. Harriman kept on and kept on and I found him also fascinating. His desire for diplomatic means of solving problems was legendary.

I found Chip Bohlen to be totally enjoyable, cool and as "hip" as anyone from today...he came across as timeless. The picture of him and JFK driving down the street, Kennedy with his shades on and at the wheel showed the man perfectly.

Robert Lovett as someone I had never heard of and yet he was also a huge force during momentous times. Almost as rich as Harriman, but not nearly as stuffy, his part was a great part of the book as well.

As someone who followed foreign affairs a bit I was very familiar with George F, Kennan (Mr. X) but I was surprised by his being so sensitive with regard to being insecure. A great mind and perfect for the early cold war period.

John McCloy was someone who is so underrated when discussing historic people of the second half of the 20th century. He combined public and private service that could (and should) never be allowed today, but his contribution was huge and very positive and that is why so many presidents called on him for assistance.

Anyone who is interested in WWII, the Cold War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War should read this book. Anyone interested in high society in the 20s thru the 80s should read this book. It was a different time, but we would not be us without how well our country handled events and how these man contributed to the world.

7 people found this helpful

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Overseas Reviewer

Six biographies in one and extremely well done, if fawning in places

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2008

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This is a very enjoyable history of the origins of the cold war and national security policy making into the 70s. It's much better at covering the period between 1944 to the mid 50s than it is for the later stuff, partly because the protagonists had a more central role earlier and then found themselves on the periphery. Discussing Vietnam policy making through the experiences of the six leaves a lot undiscussed, but it isn't bad.
The early chapters are not particularly interesting, except from the fact that they provide a vivid and surprising insight into the world of the east-coast aristocracy (1st half 20C), which is probably necessary for a full appreciation of what follows.

Apart from the less informative later chapters, the only other grievance that I can cite is the fact one does get the impression that the authors have been a little less critical of their subjects (and JFK) than is reasonable. It is also perhaps too harsh on LBJ.

8 people found this helpful