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1、TheNewCriterionFeaturesSeptember2002ThepowerofJamesBurnhambyRogerKimballAnessayononeofthegreatest,andmostunderrated,politicalandsocialcommentatorsofthetwentiethcentury.Thecommon-placecritic…believesthattruthliesinthemiddle,betweentheextremesofrightandwrong.—WilliamHazlitt,“On
2、Common-PlaceCritics”Americanshavenotyetlearnedthetragiclessonthatthemostpowerfulcannotbeloved—hated,envied,feared,obeyed,respected,evenhonoredperhaps,butnotloved.—JamesBurnham,ContainmentorLiberation?“WhoisJamesBurnham?”HowoftenhaveIfieldedvariantsofthatquestionwhilepondering
3、thisessay!Myinformalsurveysuggeststhatalmostnooneundertheageofsixtyhasevenheardofhim(“Jameswho?”).Andformostpeopleoverthatmagicage,Burnhamisbutanattenuatedpresence,ahalf-remembered,evenvaguelyembarrassingfashionthathasfailedtoreturn—finsonthebackofamodelthatwasdiscontinuedlon
4、gagoforlackofsales.“Ah,yes,”speaktheglimmersofremembrance,“authorofTheManagerialRevolution”—Burnham’sfirstandmostfamousbook,publishedin1941—“ardentColdWarrior,helpedorganizetheCongressforCulturalFreedom(rememberthat?),and…wasn’theasupporterofJosephMcCarthy?”TheanswerisNo—more
5、onthisbelow—buteventhehintofanadumbrationofasuspicionof“McCarthyite”leaningsissufficienttoexpelonefromtheranksofcivilizedrecollection,asBurnhamlearnedtohiscost.ThemostnotableexceptiontotheoblivionsurroundingBurnhamisamongpeopleassociatedwithNationalReviewNationalReview,thecon
6、servativefortnightlythatBurnhamhelpedstartin1955whenhewasfifty.Formorethantwodecades,Burnhamenlivenedthemagazine’spageswithhissparebutunsparingproseandeditorialintelligence.Herangedwidely,dilatingoneverythingfromforeignpolicy—hisspecialty—to(earlyon)themovies.WilliamF.Buckley
7、,Jr.,thefoundingeditorandperpetualgeniuslocigeniuslociofNR,calledBurnham“thenumberoneintellectualinfluenceonNationalReviewsincethedayofitsfounding.”Inajustworld,thatwouldbepatentenoughforcontinuedinterestandrecognition.Butinthisworld,thecombinationofBurnham’sferociousintellec
8、tualindependenceandunclubbableheterodoxylongagoconsignedhimtotheungl
