Heaven Can Indeed Fall

The Life of Willmoore Kendall

Christopher H. Owen

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781793624451
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Willmoore Kendall was a man against the world, a "maverick," an "iconoclast." His thoughts were profound, his countless enemies powerful, his personal life full of drama. Heaven Can Indeed Fall is the first full-length biography of Kendall and integrates the man with the teacher, thinker, and cold warrior. Once a Marxist, Kendall became a fearsome foe of global communism. He never apologized for supporting Joseph McCarthy. As the co-founder of National Review he helped turn the word liberal into an insult. A "stormy petrel," Kendall was a man "who never lost an argument or kept a friend." Yet he was one of the most effective and sensitive teachers of his age. His ideas shaped Cold War practices of intelligence analysis and psychological warfare. As an academic he became the premier American theorist for conservative populism. The recent reemergence of populist ideas among American conservatives makes understanding Kendall ever more imperative. This book shows how a child prodigy and bucolic boy scout became an ambitious intelligence analyst, razor-tongued polemicist and profound student of American politics. By knowing Kendall one can better understand Cold War America, and contemporary America as well.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface: 1959: Willmoore Il Magnifico
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: Tribune and Teacher of the American People
• 1 1909–1929: Sightless Senior and the “Boy Wonder”
• 2 1929–1935: “I Beg to Disagree”
• 3 1935–1942: “A Great Creature of the Earth”
• 4 1942–1947: “Spreading Like the Green Bay Tree”
• 5 1947–1954: “It Sure Is a Hard World”
• 6 1954–1959: “Why Are You So Damn Logical?”
• 7 1959–1963: “In Open Air Again”
• 8 1963–1967: “Kendall for King”
• Conclusion: 1977: “The Best Man of Bugtussle”
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author