Liberal Values

The idea that I buy The New Republic was first broached to me at a dinner party hosted by Senator Eugene McCarthy (in whose 1968 presidential campaign I had worked) and his wife, Abigail, at their house across the street from the National Cathedral. It was there that I met Gilbert Harrison, the deed-holder of the magazine and also its editor. It was he who did the broaching. I do not recall the specific date of this encounter. But I am sure that it was at least three, maybe even four years before the actual transfer of the publication. During that time, Harrison and I conducted a decorous inquest of each other's political histories, present opinions, even social and intellectual prejudices. In Washington, New York, Martha's Vineyard. Over and over again....