Arthur J. Goldberg

Book excerpt: This book is the first biography ever written of Arthur J. Goldberg, the former labor lawyer, Secretary of Labor under Kennedy, and Supreme Court justice (which post he resigned at the request of Lyndon Johnson to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations), who played a leading role in American political life from World War II until the end of the 1960s. Goldberg, who never wrote memoirs himself, shared his thoughts about his life and work with Stebenne in a series of conversations, which took place occasionally from the fall of 1981 through to Goldberg's death in 1990. He also allowed Stebenne access to his papers, including those held under seal in presidential libraries and at the Library of Congress. Based upon these unique sources and written to be accessible to a wide audience, Arthur J. Goldberg is both the story of a leading American liberal and a history of modern American liberalism.