Hesburgh: A Biography
- Book Review,
by Michael O'Brien
From Publishers Weekly
O'Brien, who teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, has written a detailed but accessible biography of the man who, in more than 30 years as president of Notre Dame, came to embody the university for an American public more familiar with its football team than its academic programs. O'Brien chronicles Hesburgh's determination to transform the university into something more than a football powerhouse, to make it a great Catholic university. In the process, O'Brien offers significant insight into the career of an important political figure recognized for his moral leadership even by those who disagreed with his politics and his understanding of the modern university. Hesburgh's many presidential appointments, including long involvement with the Commission on Civil Rights and a role in the formation and early development of the Peace Corps, are represented here as emblematic of the university's public dimension. Although O'Brien's account is strictly chronological and rarely attempts interpretation?he simply narrates a career marked by stability without stagnation?his biography of a life of single-minded devotion will interest readers already fascinated by Hesburgh as well as those who meet him here for the first time. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Prof. David J. O'Brien, College of the Holy Cross
"There is a wide circle of people always fascinated by Theodore Hesburgh. . . . He has played an important public role in a whole series of national policy areas. This is the first scholarly biography of Hesburgh, and the author has done an admirable job balancing attention given to Hesburgh's roles as Notre Dame president and public person in the government, church foundation, and reform worlds."
Book Description
The most versatile and highly respected academic leader in the United States, Father Theodore Hesburgh was known for his rare energy and ability to carry out a staggering variety of assignments with distinction. He combined an exceptional blend and balance of qualities-intellect, character, personality, spirituality, and management skill. A man of enormous good will, he tried to embody the compassion of Christ. During his career as president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, enrollment doubled, the endowment grew from $9 million to $350 million, and the number of buildings on campus increased from 48 to 88. At the time of his retirement, his signature was on the degrees of four out of five living Notre Dame graduates. While transforming Notre Dame into a great university, he transformed himself into a national figure with influence far beyond his campus. He was tapped for service by every American president since Eisenhower and by three popes. His fifteen Presidential appointments involved him in almost all the major social issues, and for fifteen years he served on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. This book examines Fr. Hesburgh's personality, leadership qualities, management strategies, and central role as a priest. It chronicles his prominent position in advancing civil rights and explores his relationship with famous people, among them John and Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Pope Paul VI. Finally, the biography investigates unfamiliar aspects of his life: his relationship with women and his six "adopted" children, his attitude toward Notre Dame's high profile football program, and his sometimes controversial views on the Vatican, celibacy, birth control, abortion, and homosexuality.
About the Author
Michael O'Brien is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, Menasha, Wisconsin. He is the author of McCarthy and McCarthyism in Wisconsin (1981), Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi (1987), and Senator Phillip Hart: The Conscience of the Senate (1996).
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