On Thu, 1 Mar 2001, Chris Brooke wrote:
> This is Mansfield talking on C-Span's Booknotes (during an interview
> discussing his Tocqueville translation):
>
> Prof. MANSFIELD: Well, I started off as a liberal in college, and I
> turned conservative in graduate school soon after. That would be in
> the middle 1950s.
In other words, he's been a conservative for 50 years, which kind of supports Leo's point. This guy was once a liberal like Doug was once a conservative. A youthful case of mistaken identity, soon corrected, and explained mostly by the biographical accidents that provide the starting point for a person's real education.
Harvey Mansfield Sr, who used to teach international law up at Columbia U, once said he never understood a word Harvey Mansfield Jr had ever written. I generally got the impression his circle regarded young Harvey as part of the crackpot right, so I never read him. Does he deserve better?
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com