Saul K. Padover
Encyclopedia
Saul Kussiel Padover was an historian
and political scientist at the New School for Social Research in New York City
who wrote or edited definitive studies of Karl Marx
, Joseph II of Austria, Louis XVI of France
, and three American
founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton
, James Madison
, and, particularly, Thomas Jefferson
.
, and came to the United States at the age of fifteen in 1920, with his father, Keva Padover, an American citizen, and his mother, the former Frumet Goldmann. Padover earned his Bachelor of Arts
degree from Wayne State University
in Detroit
., Michigan
. From 1928-1929, he enrolled in graduate coursework at Yale University
in New Haven
, Connecticut
. In 1930, he received a Master of Arts
from and in 1932 a Ph.D.
from the University of Chicago
. Padover accepted research positions at the University of Chicago in 1932 and then a longer stint at the University of California
at Berkeley
. From 1938-1944, he worked in the United States Department of Interior during the long tenure of Secretary Harold L. Ickes
. In 1944, Padover was a political analyst based in London for the Federal Communications Commission
. He also served as an intelligence officer for the Office of Strategic Services
, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency
, and for the United States Army
from 1944-1946. He served as an editorial writer from 1946-1948 for PM
, a short-lived leftist New York City newspaper
, In 1949, he joined the graduate faculty of The New School
, where he remained until his death at the age of seventy-five.
rior, Padover asserted during the 1950s that the former Soviet Union
posed a serious threat to the security of the western world and must be carefully curtailed in its expansionist plans, the same idea as George F. Kennan
's containment
. He also directed the General Seminar, the New School's interdisciplinary seminar for faculty colleagues.
Padover and Jacob W Landynski co-authored The Living U.S. Constitution, an examination of the forming of the United States Constitution
, with character sketches of the delegates penned by their contemporaries. The book highlights the complete text of the Constitution and pertinent decisions of the United States Supreme Court affecting issues of constitutionality. Similar Padover works are The World of the Founding Fathers and Sources of Democracy: Voices of Freedom, Hope, and Justice.
On January 8, 1979, Padover wrote a column in Time Magazine entitled "Books: Marxist Mystery" in which he professed to examine Marx in the volume Karl Marx: An Intimate Biography from the viewpoint as neither a "True Believer" nor a "Great Hater". Padover said it had been difficult for historians to separate the history that made Marx as a philosophical thinker from the history created through Marxist ideas.
Padover's acclaimed Jefferson biography, Jefferson: A Great American's Life and Ideas, was first published in 1942, reprinted in 1952, and later released in an abridged edition.
Toward the end of his life, Padover contemplated writing a book about the American Council for Émigrés in the Professions, an organization committed to assisting refugee
s who fled from Nazi Germany
and Austria. He procured physical possession of the ACEP files, housed them in his office at The New School, but died before he could complete the undertaking.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and political scientist at the New School for Social Research in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who wrote or edited definitive studies of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Joseph II of Austria, Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, and three American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
, and, particularly, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
.
Early years and education
Padover was born in Vienna, AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and came to the United States at the age of fifteen in 1920, with his father, Keva Padover, an American citizen, and his mother, the former Frumet Goldmann. Padover earned his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
., Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. From 1928-1929, he enrolled in graduate coursework at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. In 1930, he received a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from and in 1932 a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. Padover accepted research positions at the University of Chicago in 1932 and then a longer stint at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
at Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. From 1938-1944, he worked in the United States Department of Interior during the long tenure of Secretary Harold L. Ickes
Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...
. In 1944, Padover was a political analyst based in London for the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. He also served as an intelligence officer for the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, and for the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1944-1946. He served as an editorial writer from 1946-1948 for PM
PM (newspaper)
PM was a leftist New York City daily newspaper published by Ralph Ingersoll from June 1940 to June 1948 and bankrolled by the eccentric Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III....
, a short-lived leftist New York City newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, In 1949, he joined the graduate faculty of The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, where he remained until his death at the age of seventy-five.
Scholarly activities
In addition to the previously cited works, Padover penned several books about 20th century European and American politics, a memoir of his experiences as an intelligence officer, and several works on foreign policy. A liberal anti-communist Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
rior, Padover asserted during the 1950s that the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
posed a serious threat to the security of the western world and must be carefully curtailed in its expansionist plans, the same idea as George F. Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
's containment
Containment
Containment was a United States policy using military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to stall the spread of communism, enhance America’s security and influence abroad, and prevent a "domino effect". A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet...
. He also directed the General Seminar, the New School's interdisciplinary seminar for faculty colleagues.
Padover and Jacob W Landynski co-authored The Living U.S. Constitution, an examination of the forming of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, with character sketches of the delegates penned by their contemporaries. The book highlights the complete text of the Constitution and pertinent decisions of the United States Supreme Court affecting issues of constitutionality. Similar Padover works are The World of the Founding Fathers and Sources of Democracy: Voices of Freedom, Hope, and Justice.
On January 8, 1979, Padover wrote a column in Time Magazine entitled "Books: Marxist Mystery" in which he professed to examine Marx in the volume Karl Marx: An Intimate Biography from the viewpoint as neither a "True Believer" nor a "Great Hater". Padover said it had been difficult for historians to separate the history that made Marx as a philosophical thinker from the history created through Marxist ideas.
Padover's acclaimed Jefferson biography, Jefferson: A Great American's Life and Ideas, was first published in 1942, reprinted in 1952, and later released in an abridged edition.
Toward the end of his life, Padover contemplated writing a book about the American Council for Émigrés in the Professions, an organization committed to assisting refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s who fled from Nazi Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria. He procured physical possession of the ACEP files, housed them in his office at The New School, but died before he could complete the undertaking.