1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [52]
Guthrie, Woody (1912–1967) Guthrie traveled the country by freight train during the Great Depression, composing and singing folksongs that gave lyric voice to the lives of the economically downtrodden and dispossessed and that also expressed the somewhat sentimentalized ideals of American labor and populism. Best known among his more than 1,000 songs was “This Land Is Your Land,” which became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. Guthrie was a major influence on the folk music revival of the 1960s, on Bob Dylan in particular, and on American popular music generally.
Haig, Alexander (1924– ) Haig was a career military officer who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was military assistant to Henry Kissinger (when he was Nixon’s national security advisor), then became White House Chief of Staff at the height of the Watergate scandal from May 1973 until September 1974. Haig proved a great crisis manager, who (many believe) kept the government running while Nixon struggled with Watergate. After serving as supreme commander of NATO from 1974 to 1979, Haig was appointed secretary of state by Ronald Reagan in 1981. He made a major gaffe when, after the March 30, 1981, assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig declared that he was “in control” in the White House, asserting—unconstitutionally—that he was third in succession to the presidency. Haig resigned in 1982.
Haldeman, H. R. “Bob” (1926–1993) An advertising executive, Haldeman worked on President Nixon’s election campaigns and served as his White House chief of staff from 1969 to 1973. His power was great, since he largely determined who would and who would not see the president. Haldeman was deeply implicated in what Nixon’s inner circle called “dirty tricks” designed to undermine or destroy the administration’s opponents. During the Watergate scandal, Haldeman resigned, was convicted of perjury, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, and served 18 months of a 30-month sentence.
Hale, Nathan (1755–1776) Hale was a Connecticut schoolteacher who served as militia captain in the revolution and volunteered to conduct espionage behind the British lines in Long Island, New York. Captured, he suffered the fate of a spy: hanging. Long-accepted tradition has it that his final words were, “My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country.” This was a close paraphrase of a line from Cato by the 18th-century British playwright Joseph Addison, which the Yale-educated Hale may well have read—or which may have been supplied by some contemporary Patriot myth maker.
Hall, G. Stanley (1844–1924) Hall began his academic career intending to study for the ministry, but switched to philosophy and then to psychology. His early research used specially formulated questionnaires to study child development and concluded that mental growth proceeded in an evolutionary manner roughly analogous to the course of biological evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. Hall integrated modern psychology into the most advanced currents of scientific thought of his age, successfully incorporating into his work both Darwin and Freud.
Hamilton, Alexander (1755 or 1757–1804) Hamilton was of illegitimate birth in Nevis, British West Indies. After serving as a staff officer to General Washington during the American Revolution, he rose to become a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and was a prime contributor to The Federalist Papers (1789–1795), which helped ensure that the new Constitution would achieve ratification. Under President George Washington, Hamilton was the first secretary of the treasury and was responsible for a fiscal policy that established the credit of the infant nation on a sound basis. He was an ardent champion of a strong central government, which put him at odds with Washington’s secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who