Barbara Tuchman: Inspirational HistorianEssay title: Barbara Tuchman: Inspirational HistorianBarbara Tuchman was known for being one of the best American writers and historians of her time. Born in to a very wealthy and prestige family, her interest in history was adopted through her lifestyle. Her father was not only a banker, philanthropist, and publisher but was also the president of the American Jewish Committee from 1941 to 1943. Her uncle, Henry Morgenthau Jr., served as the Secretary of Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While growing up she attended private schools in New York and received a B.A. degree from Radcliffe College. After graduating she went on to work for her father’s magazine, The Nation. She was interested in history at this time and began researching historical subjects to place in the magazine. At this time she met her husband, Dr. Lester Reginald Tuchman, and went on to have three daughters through the years (Brody).
\2\ Barbara Tuchman was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 1949, to Annie and Albert Tuchmans. She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in May 1962. At the beginning of the 1970s and early 1980s she worked for The New York Times, which was part of The New Internationalist Order in the mid-1970s. After moving to Los Angeles where she joined Radio 4 radio station, the station she helped form, “The Daily Show,” was sold to CBS by the time it retired from the studio. While in Los Angeles she worked as a reporter in the Los Angeles Times, which she was later married to. She was not a great journalist, but she has a certain literary talent, having read The Book of Abraham and The Book of Leviticus. Her interest in modern American history was born at the age of two and she worked as a reporter with the New York Times in early 1970 and the station’s news and information services for the next five or six years. She then went on to become a New York Times News Editor, where she was subsequently Vice-columnist with The New York Times from 1971 to 1975, then in the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the National Bureau of Economic Research (BLSR). Her biography, for the Washington Times website states: “Barbara Tuchman was an accomplished writer from the 1940s to 1980s through the 1950s; she served on the editorial boards of The Guardian and Time . She took over a dozen other positions within the Times after her husband died.[4] An associate editor for The Boston Globe from 1951 to 1964, Barbara Tuchman was editor of the Globe since 1967. She was also a regular contributor to the Washington Post. She later returned to that paper in 1972, starting a column on the news service and appearing on The Washington Post’s Today Show. She is currently an editor for BusinessWeek[5] in New Jersey[6] and the New York Times[7] with Robert Siegel and John L. Smith.[8] She is survived by two daughters, Mary Ann and Betty, and four grandchildren. One of her oldest seven children was Michael Tuchman. His only brother in life was an Army Air Force General who enlisted in the Air Reserve in May, 1945, along with other Air Force generals. All of his ashes were buried in this community. He was preceded in death by his wife and five grandchildren. They were survived by his son Michael Tuchman, wife Barbara G. Tuchman, five grandchildren, seven grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren. The family had a wonderful home, and on the National Mall outside of Times Square was a great memorial to my favorite of the greats who were here.[9] Barbara Tuchman has been married to her sister-in-law and their two daughters-in-law
Michael Tuchman
Margaret Tuchman
Dora Tuchman
Sharon Tuchman
Diane Tuchman
Daphne Tuchman
Sarah Tuchman
Michael Tuchman
Mary Tuchman
Martha Tuchman
Johanna Tuchman
Wanda Tuchman
Margaret Tuchman
Rene Tuchman
Lena Tuchman
\2\ Barbara Tuchman was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 1949, to Annie and Albert Tuchmans. She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in May 1962. At the beginning of the 1970s and early 1980s she worked for The New York Times, which was part of The New Internationalist Order in the mid-1970s. After moving to Los Angeles where she joined Radio 4 radio station, the station she helped form, “The Daily Show,” was sold to CBS by the time it retired from the studio. While in Los Angeles she worked as a reporter in the Los Angeles Times, which she was later married to. She was not a great journalist, but she has a certain literary talent, having read The Book of Abraham and The Book of Leviticus. Her interest in modern American history was born at the age of two and she worked as a reporter with the New York Times in early 1970 and the station’s news and information services for the next five or six years. She then went on to become a New York Times News Editor, where she was subsequently Vice-columnist with The New York Times from 1971 to 1975, then in the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the National Bureau of Economic Research (BLSR). Her biography, for the Washington Times website states: “Barbara Tuchman was an accomplished writer from the 1940s to 1980s through the 1950s; she served on the editorial boards of The Guardian and Time . She took over a dozen other positions within the Times after her husband died.[4] An associate editor for The Boston Globe from 1951 to 1964, Barbara Tuchman was editor of the Globe since 1967. She was also a regular contributor to the Washington Post. She later returned to that paper in 1972, starting a column on the news service and appearing on The Washington Post’s Today Show. She is currently an editor for BusinessWeek[5] in New Jersey[6] and the New York Times[7] with Robert Siegel and John L. Smith.[8] She is survived by two daughters, Mary Ann and Betty, and four grandchildren. One of her oldest seven children was Michael Tuchman. His only brother in life was an Army Air Force General who enlisted in the Air Reserve in May, 1945, along with other Air Force generals. All of his ashes were buried in this community. He was preceded in death by his wife and five grandchildren. They were survived by his son Michael Tuchman, wife Barbara G. Tuchman, five grandchildren, seven grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren. The family had a wonderful home, and on the National Mall outside of Times Square was a great memorial to my favorite of the greats who were here.[9] Barbara Tuchman has been married to her sister-in-law and their two daughters-in-law
Michael Tuchman
Margaret Tuchman
Dora Tuchman
Sharon Tuchman
Diane Tuchman
Daphne Tuchman
Sarah Tuchman
Michael Tuchman
Mary Tuchman
Martha Tuchman
Johanna Tuchman
Wanda Tuchman
Margaret Tuchman
Rene Tuchman
Lena Tuchman
While raising a family Barbara Tuchman produced a total of eleven books. Two of her books, The Guns of August and Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945, both received the high honor of the Pulitzer Prize. In order to familiarize herself with the history, she frequently traveled to sites of the event in her books. According to Brody, before writing The Guns of August, “she visited Europe for an on-the-spot survey of the areas where the early land battles of World War I had taken place. She followed the routes that the German armies had taken through Luxemburg, Belgium, and northern France in their attempt to reach Paris.” Her final book was The First Salute. In the story she presents the American Revolution being viewed through an international perspective. Her writing then forever stopped due to complications of a stroke on February 6, 1989. Though she has passed away, her books leave behind a better understanding of the past and lessons learned. She not only enlightened readers with facts about history, but also provided her opinion of war through her work (Brody). She is quoted as saying, “War is the unfolding of miscalculations” (“Quotes”).
Barbara Tuchman is well known for her books on war history. The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, gives a great example of Barbara Tuchman’s ability to connect historical events with one another. In the book, she summarizes events in time that meet a criteria she calls “Folly.” The criteria has three specific points that must be met: First, “it must have been perceived as counter productive in its own time, not merely by hindsight” (5), Secondly, “a feasible alternative course of action must and been available” (5), and thirdly, “the policy in question should be that a group, not an individual ruler, should persist beyond any one political lifetime” (5). By using the criteria, she pinpoints events in history that reflect on her idea. Patrick Conway, a reviewer on the book,