Kennedyism at Rest

The passing of a man who became the “Lion of the Senate” because he could not be more, as he was intended to be.

A Safe Haven, by Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh

A Strange Death by Hillel Halkin

Socialism's Nine Lives

The long, dismal history of the Left's great creed has culminated in a "stupid" anti-Americanism.

Remembering Robert Warshow

The cultural critic wrote little and died young, but for grace and penetration (and companionship) there was none to compare.

That These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain

A memorial day in Jerusalem rouses thoughts of America's bloodiest war, and what it took to win it.

Moral Freedom by Alan Wolfe

Hooking Up by Tom Wolfe

Missing Mary McCarthy

Beautiful, famous, and clever, she would have had great sport with the new books about her.

The Kubrick Mystique

From quirky talent to official genius: the late director's career as a parable of Hollywood.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Having placed every masculine trait and standard under interdiction, now we get to live with the results.

Southern Comforts

In the company of Dixie's best sons the pleasures flow easily, and so, too, does a certain poisonous sanctimony in matters of race.

Is Affirmative Action on the Way Out? Should It Be?

For the past several decades, public and private institutions in the United States have operated under a system according to which designated minority groups receive special advantages in employment and education. Prominent intellectuals address questions on affirmative action. What is the nature of affirmative action? How would you weigh its costs and advantages? Is the policy on its way out?

In and Out at the

An eclectic liberal and his editors are soon parted.

The Witches of Arthur Miller

In its filmed version, The Crucible finally comes alive as a drama--though to what end is another matter.

On the Future of Conservatism

The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election results themselves but the present and future character of a movement which only two years ago seemed to some to be bringing about a "revolution" in American political life.

Lone Wolf: A Biography of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky by Shmuel Katz

Reading Shmuel Katz's two-volume biography of Vladimir Jabotinsky is a haunting experience.

Letters of Sidney Hook edited by Edward S. Shapiro

On February 18, 1937, the late Sidney Hook wrote a letter—the first of several—to one Jerome Davis. Davis was a professor of sociology at the Yale Divinity School and, to judge from Hook's remonstrations, a once-soft liberal recently turned outright Communist fellow-traveler.

The National Prospect

To commemorate Commentary's fiftieth anniversary, the editors addressed the following statement and questions to a group of American intellectuals:

Between Friends: The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy, edited by Carol Brightman

The two women first met in 1944, when Mary McCarthy was married to the famous literary critic Edmund Wilson, her second and soon-to-be-ex-husband, and Hannah Arendt was, as they say, only three years off the boat from Nazi Europe.

The State Department vs. America

As the diplomatic arm of the world's greatest power, the U.S. Department of State has many, and widely varied, responsibilities.

Megan's Law & the

Probably there are by now few people who have not heard the story of Megan Kanka of Hamilton Township, New Jersey—or at least some story similar to it.

The ADL vs. the “Religious Right”

In June of this year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an established and highly respected organization dedicated to the protection and security of the American Jewish community, published a 193-page study entitled The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance & Pluralism in America.

“Newsweek” Discovers Virtue

Consider the travails of the newsweekly.

Welfare Feminism

It is fair to say that the Nation, having come out every week for almost 130 years now, is the country's longest-lived and most consistent voice of the Left.

No White Males Need Apply

Filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court is, of course, among the most consequential of presidential acts—not quite so grave, perhaps, as taking the nation into war, but in the long run probably of more lasting effect.

The “Little Woman” of Little Rock

Anna Quindlen is a woman with a very good job.

Who Is Addicted to What?

Barbara Ehrenreich, the Honorary Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, is a journalist of considerable verve whose “field” is nothing less than the sins and foibles of the entire society, and the culture, in which she finds herself.

The Beginning of the Journey, by Diana Trilling

Of the many possible reasons for publishing a memoir, Diana Trilling's must surely rank among the oddest.

Homosexuality and the Schools

On November 12, 1992, Mary A. Cummins, president of the community board of School District 24 in Queens, New York, addressed a letter to Dr. Joseph Fernandez, the city's schools chancellor.