Arnold Beichman (May 17, 1913February 17, 2010 Podhoretz, John
"Arnold Beichman, 1913–2010."
''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'', February 18, 2010. Archived fro
the original.
/ref>) was an author, scholar, and a critic of communism. At the time of his death, he was a

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

research fellow and a columnist for ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

''. Beichman was born on New York City's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, in a family of Jewish immigrants from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He received a B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1934, after which he succeeded his friend,

Arthur Lelyveld Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld (February 6, 1913 - April 15, 1996) was a rabbi within the movement of Reform Judaism and activist. Early life and education Lelyveld was born in Manhattan on Feb. 6, 1913. He graduated from Columbia College in 1933. At ...

, as editor-in-chief of the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

''. Beichman spent many years in journalism, working for the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'', '' PM'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', and others. He returned to Columbia in his 50s to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, in 1967 and 1973, respectively. He gave his name to "Beichman's Law," which states: "With the single exception of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, the aftermath of all revolutions from 1789 on only worsened the human condition." His Jewish father Solomon Beichman was unhappy, because he wanted Arnold to be a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. The Cold War International History Project at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...

was in part funded by Beichman’s donations.

Publications

Books * ''The "Other" State Department: The United States Mission to the United Nations — Its Role in the Making of Foreign Policy'' (1968) * ''Nine Lies About America'' (1972) ::Foreword by

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

. * ''Andropov: New Challenge to the West'' (1983) ::Introduction by

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

. * ''Herman Wouk: The Novelist as Social Historian'' (1984) * ''The Long Pretense: Soviet Treaty Diplomacy from Lenin to Gorbachev'' (1991) Campbell, John C.br>Review of ''The Long Pretense: Soviet Treaty Diplomacy from Lenin to Gorbachev''.
'

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', Vol. 70, No. 3, Summer 1991, p. 174. . . Archived fro
the original.
/ref> ::Foreword by

William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

* ''Anti-American Myths: Their Causes and Consequences'' (1992) ::Foreword by

. Books edited * ''CNN's Cold War Documentary: Issues and Controversy'' (2000) ::With

John Lewis Gaddis John Lewis Gaddis (born 1941) is an American international relations scholar, military historian, and writer. He is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He is best known for his work on the Cold War an ...

and

Richard Pipes Richard Edgar Pipes ( yi, ריכארד פּיִפּעץ ''Rikhard Pipets'', the surname literally means 'beak'; pl, Ryszard Pipes; July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was an American academic who specialized in Russian and Soviet history. He publish ...

. Articles * "Socialism: Dead or Alive? A Roundtable." ''

The American Enterprise ''The American Enterprise'' (''TAE'') was a public policy magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Its editorial stance was politically conservative, generally advocating free-market economics and a neoconservat ...

'', July 1995, pp. 28–35. ::With

David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer. He is a founder and president of the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website ''FrontPage Magazine''; and director of Disco ...

John O'Sullivan John O'Sullivan may refer to: Sports *John O'Sullivan (cricketer) (1918–1991), New Zealand cricketer *John O'Sullivan (cyclist) (born 1933), Australian cyclist *John O'Sullivan (footballer) (born 1993), Irish footballer for Accrington Stanley *J ...

Eric Breindel Eric Marc Breindel (1955–1998) was an American neoconservative writer and former editorial page editor of the ''New York Post''. Early life Breindel grew up in an upper-middle class Jewish family in New York. His parents were refugees of Hitle ...

and

Mark Falcoff Mark Falcoff (; born 1941) is an American scholar and policy consultant who has worked with a number of think tanks, such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Hoover Institution, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Education and ca ...

.
"The Lesser Evil."
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', November 4, 2004.

References

External links

Reading From Left to Right: Writings by Beichman
(official website)
Biographical profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beichman, Arnold 1913 births 2010 deaths American columnists American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Columbia College (New York) alumni Hoover Institution people Jewish American writers Writers from California Writers from New York City Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

Publications

References

Further reading

External links