Sweden: The Middle Way
| Author | Marquis Childs |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Published | 1936 |
Sweden: The Middle Way is a book by Marquis Childs, an American journalist, chronicling his research on the reform policies of the Swedish Social Democratic Party based on his visits to the country as a reporter. First published in 1936, the book became an international bestseller, attracting wide attention to Childs' account of the Swedish economic and social system. Although later discredited to some degree as overly sweeping in its generalities, undercritical, and for other inaccuracies, the book is still considered influential in the way Sweden is viewed around the world.
In his early 1930s at the time of the book's publication, Childs went on to win the 1969 Pulitzer Prize in Distinguished Commentary, the first person to win that award.
Thesis[edit]
Childs' argument in the book was that Sweden had adopted an effective compromise between the two political extremes of the day: the United States and Russia ([USSR]).[1] Bridging the gap between the "concentration of economic power in the hands of a few men" in the United States and "the trials and hardships in Russia," Sweden seemed to have been able to address its social problems while retaining economic viability, primarily through its combination of a strong cooperative movement and active government involvement in managing the economy.[2]
Reaction[edit]
The most prominent reaction to the book came from President Franklin Roosevelt, who in June 1936 had dispatched a commission to Europe to study the prevalent use of cooperatives there. In a press conference, Roosevelt told reporters:
Already a best-seller before Roosevelt got interested in the book, the president's comments fortified its stature as one of the best-known American non-fiction books of the second half of the 1930s.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Arter, David (1999). Scandinavian Politics Today. Manchester University, Pg. 145-46. ISBN 0-7190-5133-9. ("When in spring 1936 the young American journalist Marquis Childs published a short volume on the reform policies of the Swedish Social Democratic Party entitled Sweden: The Middle Way it became a surprising best-seller. It was penned at the time of the Great Depression, when over 20 million Americans were out of work and faith in the capitalist system had been severely shaken. In sharp contrast, in the totalitarian systems of fascist Germany and communist Russia, Hitler and Stalin claimed that everybody had a job. It was against this backdrop of capitalism in crisis, on the one hand, and the pretensions of the illiberal regimes of right and left, on the other, that Sweden's Third way appeared to offer salvation by demonstrating that it was possible to create a society in which full employment, social security and equality could be combined with democracy and respect for individual rights. Following Childs's analysis, Sweden became not just another state but a model for other states, its solidary 'people's home' respected as a shining example of consensus politics and the product of an historic compromise between capital and labour. Sweden became the epitome of an egalitarian culture and pragmatic style of politics that many yearned to emulate."
- ^ Ohlsson, Per T. Sweden: Still The Middle Way?. A talk presented at Columbia University on September 28, 2006. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/swedish/events/fall06/PTOChilds92806Web.doc Retrieved on 3/22/07
- ^ Woodward, C. Vann. (1997). The Comparative Approach to American History. Oxford, Pg. 302. ISBN 0-19-511260-1
Categories:
1936 non-fiction books
American non-fiction books
Social democracy
Politics of Sweden
Social programs
Mixed economies
Sociology books
Books about Sweden
Books about socialism
Foreign relations of SwedenMarquis Childs
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)Marquis Childs
Marquis Childs, correspondent for the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1937)Born Marquis William Childs
March 17, 1903
Clinton, Iowa, USADied June 30, 1990 (aged 87)
San Francisco, CaliforniaResting place Clinton, Iowa Occupation Journalist Language English Nationality USA Citizenship American Alma mater University of Wisconsin–Madison Spouse Anna "Lue" Prentiss(m. 1926; died 1968) Jane Neylan McBaine(m. 1969) Children Henry Prentiss Childs and Malissa Marquis Childs (pen name Malissa Redfield) Marquis William Childs (March 17, 1903 – June 30, 1990) was a 20th-century American journalist, syndicated columnist, and author.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Childs was born on March 17, 1903, in Clinton, Iowa. He graduated from Lyons High School in Clinton in 1918, and received a B.A. in 1923 and Litt.D. in 1966 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After working for United Press in several Midwestern cities (including Chicago) since 1923, he attended the University of Iowa and completed his M.A. in 1925. In 1969, he obtained a second Litt.D. from the University of Iowa.[1]
Following his college graduation, Childs worked briefly for United Press. He then returned to the University of Iowa to teach English composition before rejoining United Press, this time in New York. "My father," wrote Childs, "was a lawyer and his father was a farmer, as his forebears apparently had been since the time of Adam. Why I wanted, from the age of thirteen or fourteen, to be a newspaperman I've never quite understood."
Career[edit]
Newspaperman[edit]
In 1925, Childs rejoined United Press and then in 1926 joined the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he would remain off and on until 1944,[2] mostly serving as a feature writer for its American Mercury magazine section.[1]
In 1932 Childs wrote an article for Harper's (published in the November issue) that was not so warmly received in his hometown. "River Town," a collection of thinly disguised tales of prominent Clinton citizens, was thought by natives to be at best in poor taste, and at worst, outrageous, although it was read by many with glee. (In 1951 Childs partially redeemed himself in the eyes of the offended with an article, "The Town I Like—Clinton, Iowa," which appeared in the May–June issue of the Lincoln-Mercury Times).
In 1933 Childs visited Europe, returning to the United States in June 1934 as a member of the Washington staff of the Post-Dispatch. He traveled 15,000 miles with President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1936 re-election campaign, and briefly with candidates Alfred M. Landon and Norman Thomas. A Harper's article entitled "They Hate Roosevelt!" was expanded into a campaign pamphlet and given wide circulation throughout the United States.
Foreign correspondent[edit]
Childs took a leave of absence from the Post-Dispatch to attend a housing exposition in Sweden; he remained there to write a series for the newspaper on Sweden's social and economic advances. A pamphlet and two books developed from this experience: Sweden: Where Capitalism is Controlled (1934), Sweden: the Middle Way (1936), and This is Democracy; Collective Bargaining in Scandinavia (1938). With Sweden: the Middle Way, Childs first came to literary prominence. Critics agreed that it showed "striking observation, faithful reporting, and vigorous journalism of a high order"; President Roosevelt was inspired to send a special commission abroad to study European cooperative systems.
Childs's first novel, Washington Calling! (1937), was called "unquestionably the most intelligent novel of Washington since Harvey Ferguson's Capitol Hill." That same year Childs traveled to Spain and wrote a series of articles on the Spanish Civil War for the Post-Dispatch. He expressed anti-Franco and pro-Loyalist sentiments.
The next country subjected to Childs's appraisal was Mexico. His series on oil expropriation was so controversial that a United States Senate investigation followed. He was chastised on and off the Senate floor by oilman and Senator Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania. Childs sued Guffey for slander, won a full apology on the floor of the Senate, then withdrew the suit.
Wartime and post-war author[edit]
In the early 1940s, Childs published several books that won renewed critical acclaim: Toward a Dynamic America with William T. Stone; This Is Your War ("succinct and stimulating," said The New York Times); and I Write from Washington. During the spring of 1943, as guest of the Swedish Foreign Office, Childs again visited Sweden and became interested in the role of neutrals in World War II; this led him to investigate conditions in Switzerland, upon which he reported in a Saturday Evening Post article.
Relaxation for Childs during the war years came with horseback riding and figure skating—"When you're trying to keep your balance on a backward eight, you can't think about either your own or the world's troubles." He began writing his column Washington Calling in February 1944 and published The Cabin (an autobiographical novel) that year:
During another stint with the Post-Dispatch (1954–1962), Childs wrote essays for American Heritage and Holiday and published: Ethics in a Business Society, which was translated into Japanese and Portuguese; The Peacemakers, which appeared in foreign language editions in Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, and France; The Ragged Edge: The Erosion of Individual Liberties; and best-sellers Eisenhower: Captive Hero and Walter Lippmann and His Times, co-edited with James Reston. Surprisingly, there are two three-act plays, Maud and Madame Minister, among the Childs materials collected by the University of Iowa.
Newspaperman again[edit]
In 1944, Childs rejoined his old news agency, the United Press.[2] While at the United Press, the Post-Dispatch continued to carry his United Press work until he returned to the paper full-time in 1954.[2]
On November 21, 1947, Childs wrote an essay that exposed the Justice Department's grand jury investigations into Soviet espionage and all but named Elizabeth Bentley as a witness. The grand jury investigations led to congressional testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee by not only Bentley but also Whittaker Chambers during the summer of 1948 (during the presidential campaign season). Childs was a friend of Laurence Duggan, a Soviet spy or Communist fellow traveler as alleged by both Bentley and Chambers; Childs contributed to a private book memorializing Duggan.
The years 1954–1962 were spent as chief correspondent for the Post-Dispatch.
In 1962 as a contributing editor to the Post-Dispatch, Childs's column became syndicated in the United States and Canada by United Features Syndicate. The 1963 Britannica Book of the Year includes his article, "The New Europe: Unity and the Old Nationalism." He appeared many times on national television, notably "Meet the Press," and lectured throughout the United States. He won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary (the first such awarded) in 1970.[1] His work also landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
Personal[edit]
Childs pronounced his first name "MARK-us."[1]
His first marriage on August 26, 1926, was to Anna 'Lue' Prentiss (April 8, 1902 - September, 1968). Their children were Henry Prentiss Childs and Malissa Marquis Childs (pen name "Malissa Redfield"). After Lue's death, he married Jane Neylan McBaine in August 1969.
On March 25, 1976, Childs returned to Clinton, Iowa, his appearance sponsored by funds administered by the Clinton Library Board. He was received with great warmth. At Clinton High School and in press interviews he reminisced about his youth in Clinton. He remembered ice skating on the frozen Mississippi River, the road shows at the Clinton Theatre, the good high school Lyons was, "and the people—I remember them. They were all characters—all with their own identities. They weren't rubbed into conformity by modern society."
On June 30, 1990, Marquis Childs died at the Children's Hospital of San Francisco in San Francisco, California[2] from cardiovascular disease. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Clinton, Iowa.
Awards[edit]
In 1945, Childs received the Sigma Delta Chi Award for "sustained insight in national affairs, first hand reporting, and effective writing." In 1951 he garnered the University of Missouri "distinguished service in journalism" award. That year he delivered the graduation address to a combined Clinton, Iowa, High School-Clinton Community College assembly and, on the same day, to Lyons High School graduates. He spoke on the value of individuality, a recurrent theme in his writing, speeches, and reminiscences.
In 1961, Childs received an order of chivalry from King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, the Nordstjärneorden.
Childs was awarded the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1969.[3][4]
Works[edit]
In his epilogue to Witness to Power (1975), Childs wrote,
Sweden[edit]
- Sweden: Where Capitalism is Controlled (1934), John Day: New York.
- Sweden: the Middle Way (1936), Yale University Press: New Haven.
- This is Democracy: Collective Bargaining in Scandinavia (1938), Yale University Press: New Haven.
United States[edit]
- They Hate Roosevelt! (1936), Harper & Brothers: New York & London.
- Washington Calling! (1937), W. Morrow: New York (a novel).
- Toward a Dynamic America: The Challenge of a Changing World (1941, with William T. Stone), Foreign Policy Association: New York.
- This Is Your War (1942), Little Brown: Boston.
- I Write from Washington (1942), Harper & Brothers: New York & London.
- Cabin (1944), Harper & Brothers: New York (a novel).
Post-war publications[edit]
- Which Way for America? (1947), Minneapolis.
- Eisenhower: Captive Hero (date).
- Walter Lippmann and His Times (date), co-edited with James Reston.
- Witness to Power (1975), McGraw-Hill: New York.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Papers of Marquis Childs". University of Iowa. January 1998. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Marquis W. Childs is Dead at 87: Won a Pulitzer for Commentary," New York Times (July 2, 1990).
- ^ "Award to Childs". The Daily Republic. Mitchell, South Dakota. February 19, 1969. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
External sources[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marquis Childs. - Meet the Press (May 17, 1953): Martha Rountree with James Wechsler, Marquis Childs, Frank Waldrop, Bert Andrews, and Lawrence Spivak.]
- History of Clinton County, Iowa (copyright 1978), Clinton County Historical Society
- Saxon, Wolfgang (July 2, 1990). Marquis W. Childs Is Dead at 87; Won a Pulitzer for Commentary. New York Times
- Papers of Marquis Childs
- The Washington Post
PDF bookSweden The Middle Way
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.224600
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