Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

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This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Welcome to a conversation with UC Berkeley's 1986 Alumnus of the Year, John Kenneth Galbraith: Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 1934; Professor of Economics at Harvard for more than fifty years; writer and author of more than 20 books, including The New Industrial State and The Affluent Society, and one novel, The Triumph; price czar during World War II; Project Director in the strategic bombing studies after World War II; editor at Fortune magazine; advisor to President Kennedy; U.S. Ambassador to India during the Kennedy administration; a leader in the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War; past president of the American Economics Association.

1. Background ... Berkeley education ... graduate education in economics ... contribution to the study of economics
2. The Art of Good Writing ... influence of Henry Luce ... rules of good writing ... writing with humor ... writing in the social sciences ... fiction versus nonfiction
3. U.S.'s Third World Policy during the Cold War ... states want autonomy ... U.S. politicians' fear of being soft on communism ... why we should have stayed out of Vietnam
4. Political Leadership ... comparing Kennedy and Reagan ... comparing Kennedy and Johnson ... Roosevelt's inspiration of loyalty in followers ... Roosevelt's pragmatism ... Adlai Stevenson
5. Intellectuals in Government
6. Political Parties and the National Agenda
7. Galbraith's Intellectual Legacy

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