Alan Cranston: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

Journal-Writing: Students Prepare for their E-mail Exchange with Alan Cranston

As part of an assignment to explore the Globetrotter website, including the Conversations with History interview with Senator Alan Cranston, Gale Ow asked her students to prepare a journal with comments about Globetrotter and Senator Alan Cranston. Here are some of their journal entries:

Alan Cranston seems to be a very educated and experienced politician. The fact that he is so old, being raised during the Depression, and that he has seen so much political change in America really impresses me. I think his nongovernmental organization, the Global Security Institute, is a great idea and hope that someday, it abolishes nuclear weapons altogether. It's hard to believe that one person whom, prior to reading the interview, I had never heard of, has made so much of a difference in politics and so much of a contribution to our environment. Reading the interview made me think about what it must have been like to be the only outside reporter allowed in Nazi Germany, how disillusioning it must have been to see the horrors of war up close and personal.

Another thing that impressed me was how Cranston was not afraid to break the law in order to educate people. He knowingly violated Hitler's copyright by publishing his own English version of Mein Kampf. It only survived for ten days before Cranston and his people were sued, but it sold over half a million copies. It really impressed me that Cranston was not afraid to scare the people, to stir them up. We have a whole system of government set up to keep the people calm, but Cranston was not afraid to shake up the citizens to bring awareness. That's what impressed me most about Cranston.

Keenahn

I think it was very cool that Cranston began in journalism and then went on to politics, so first he had a very good sense of how the world was, then he decided to do things in the government. I also found the annotated "Mein Kampf" story very amusing. I didn't know people could internationally sue each other. I did think it was a good idea to show the Americans what threats were actually posed. I do wonder how Sen. Cranston managed to get out of the infantry to write stuff and to write his book, The Killing of the Peace. It is pretty amazing how Cranston got around.

I seem to agree with most of his outlooks on history, except he was there. It is amazing the way he looked at everything like someone from the future looks at the past! I also agree with his abolitionist views on nuclear weapons and money. I probably would have got along well with Senator Cranston, or at least I would have voted for him. He seems like a real people person: to know 90% of the Senate well enough to know how they will vote is no small feat, especially considering that one-third of the Senate is re-elected or replaced every two years!

He starts talking really complicated once he gets onto the nuclear weapons topic. He seems frustrated that they weren't abolished sooner. I still wonder why he thinks they are even more dangerous now than they were before. I would like to know how Cranston thinks we can change sovereignty.

Elianna

After going through the website and reading about some of these people, I began to realize how hard it must have been to live back in the pre-WWII years. I realized the feelings that people had towards one another and their views of the bigger world about them. From Alan Cranston's interview, I learned that the world has changed a great deal from when he was a youth, covering news stories world-wide. Then again, if we were to closely examine our world again, we can still find problems which Cranston describes. In our world, places like the Middle East where peace over the past decade has been advanced to the point where Jews live peacefully with Arab neighbors, can still go up in smoke within a matter of a week, and also the changing of the guard in Serbia, the world is forever changing. We cannot allow it to change in a manner which is not best for humanity as a whole.

In both of the cases which I have mentioned about our present society, it is the United Nations who has intervened in both cases. It was Alan Cranston who had helped found this organization. This shows that our own actions today will affect future generations to come. All action taken today will be apparent in the future to come. That is why we must solve our problems with care toward all parties.

Eddy

Before visiting the webpage, I did not know who Alan Cranston was. After reading the interview with him, I was surprised that I had never heard about him before, because he is such a distinguished person, especially in California. He has a very accomplished track record in government, even changing it by his method of persuasion. There are few people as powerful as he is, but Cranston is maybe not as well known and credited as he should be. Sometimes we forget the importance of politicians, since the politicians are often deceitful and disrespected. Men like Cranston remind us of how powerful political leaders can be. I was impressed to learn he lived to meet many powerful communist leaders in Europe during his life as a journalist. He should be more popular in California classrooms.

Tricia

From different interviews I learned that Cranston was a former senator from California. He was also a journalist who translated an anti-Hitler book to English to raise American awareness about Hitler and what he was doing in Germany. I also skimmed through interviews about Cranston's ideas on reforming the political process and nuclear weapons.

I found that Cranston had a lot to say about different subjects. His opinions and comments could give students another perspective on a specific topic and maybe help them develop their own opinions and insights. Cranston also presented his answers in an interesting way, so as not to bore the audience.

Rachel

I didn't really know what to expect when I accessed this website. For some reason, I thought I was going to be accessing a very left wing campaign. All this was was an interview with Senator Alan Cranston, a leading figure in democratic politics.

At first, the interview format was a little boring, but thten it got a bit interesting. It's amazing to grasp what kind of a life he has led -- his brushes with Hitler, his vital role in politics. I just think that it's pretty commendable for a journalist to get involved in politics because he gets fed up with just covering events. I like his drive and vision he used to accomplish all that he has done through the course of his political career. I also like his outspoken nature, especially in his breaking Hitler's copyright of Mein Kampf and his writing Killing of the Peace.

Of course, I am aare that I am getting a biased report. There are always two sides to a wall, and I don't know the other side of his politics. There are many things he has done that are amazing and interesting, but I am sure there are undesirable actions he has taken.

Bevan

Alan Cranston is a fascinating figure, with fairly radical views considering his background as a senator. I would expect any government official to be more moderate, but he firmly believes in the elimination of nuclear weapons and money in politics. His experience as a journalist must give him a different perspective from other politicians. His most important point I thought was that youth can and should make a difference in society.

Sam

As I was looking through the web site and reading the interview with Alan Cranston, I, honestly, wasn't enjoying it but Mr. Cranston made some good points. He said that his parents advised him, but that Cranston would make his own decsions, whichis a good thing because no one should make life decisions based on others. When talking about nuclear weapons, Mr. Cranston said, "I believe we have to abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us." By reading the interview, Mr. Cranston seems like a smart, politically involved man. He knows about a lot that is going around the world, more than anyu of us Lowell students know combined. He started his career young, by reading lots of books and studying government. I think it was interesting how Cranston mentioned that there was a American version of Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, in English but didn't have the dangerous ideas of Hitler's which would anger most Americans. And Cranston did something about it. I don't htink I would ever be this politically involved as Cranston was, but of course Cranston has interest in it and I don't.

Eliza

Senator Cranston has accomplished much in his life. He was a journalist, and author (wrote The Killing of the Peace in 1946), a comptroller of California, and a senator. He is also the founder and president of the Global Security Institute. What I like about Senator Cranston is his positive thinking: when asked about his greatest political disappointment, he replied, "I'm an optimist and I believe that setbacks are temporary." I also enjoyed what I read in Seciton 3 of the website, "Reforming the Political Process." In one quote, Cranston shows tht he is a person that cares about life and moral vlues. He said, "I'm an abolitionist on two fronts. I believe we have to abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us, and I think we have to eliminate the incredibly important and significant role in politics before we're going to have our democracy working as it should work."

Kenny

Alan Cranston is a very interesting man. He's been through it all, World War II, the Cold War, over 10 presidents, and even saw Mussolini and Hitler up close.

He's full of ideas for the wy the world should be. He thinks that Nukes should be completely eliminated, as it poses a huge threat. It does pose a huge threat, and the way he explained how it could be used by a rogue nation is so frighteningly real; it's completely possible for Saddam Hussein to sneak nukes through Canada and place them in every city in the U.S., and threaten the U.S. He's very cautious about a nuclear war, but I don't agree that it's more dangerous than when the Cold War was happening. Things have cooled down a bit.

He also strongly believes in eliminating the significant role of money in politics, because it will affect every issue that comes along, and there just isn't enough time to worry about money.

He also says that the world needs the U.N. to hold sovereignty over issues that affect everyone, like global warming and pollution. It's true, because these problems cannot be done as a nation alone; we need the whole world's cooperation.

The site is very interesting indeed. Cranston is obviously a guy who knows what he's talking about, even though he's a complete Republican.

Eddie

During the interview, Cranston discussed his life, his work, and his opinions on various issues. Some parts of the interview I found boring, but Cranston did make some good points about nuclear weapons and the question of sovereignty. Cranston believes in abolition on 2 fronts: nuclear weapons and the influence of money in our democratic government. Cranston discussed the danger of nuclear weapons, the possibility of accidents, and the possible consequences of those accidents. It was rather disturbing to hear that some major authorities on the issue believe that there'll be an accident within 10 years; it was also disturbing to hear that nuclear weapons could be used by terrorist groups to blackmail governments. However, I don't like Cranston's argument that since nukes could be abused we should get rid of them before the terrorists get their hands on it; this argument doesn't hold, because getting rid of nukes will not stop terrorists from developing them. It is a little too late now to completely abolish nukes. I liked the point Cranston made about sovereignty. If national sovereignty is no longer such an important thing, then we wouldn't have this many wars.

Guoying

See also: E-Mail Exchange with Alan Cranston and Students' Responses to the E-Mail Exchange

To the Alan Cranston page with other Cranston links.

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