University of Virginia Library

Intellectuals In Politics

Dean of the Faculty Robert J. Harris
spoke to an ODK meeting yesterday on
the subject of the intellectual in politics,
a timely topic considering George Wallace's
tirades against the academicians who are
leading this country to godless liberalism
and the pages of the New York Times
purchased by the learned signers of letters
of protest.

Dean Harris, dryly witty as ever, explained
that intellectual achievement has not
been the barrier to public office that some
have believed it, although he hastened to add
that the Platonic ideal of the philosopher
king hasn't been reached either. He cited
the intellectuality of such presidents as
Adams, Jefferson, Madison and the first
Roosevelt as well as the sympathy with
intellectuals of such men as the second
Roosevelt and Kennedy. Even presidents
branded as anti-intellectual, as is the case
with Andrew Jackson and Lyndon Johnson,
have had to include men of learning in
their administrations; he described such
contemporary cabinet officers as Messrs.
Rusk, McNamara, Gardner and Weaver
as being welcomed on the faculty at any
campus. He did mention such low points
in the presidential-academic relationship as
the administration of Harding, who said that
"government, after all, is a very simple
thing"—a statement, Dean Harris pointed
out, that indicates more about Harding than
about government.

Two points made by Dean Harris are
particularly relevant to the University today.

The first concerns participation by intellectuals
in protest movements, both of the
written and physical sort. Although demonstrations
play an important role in the American
political process, Dean Harris wisely
warned that if the protesting scholar or
artist is uninformed his opinions are entitled
to no more respect than that accorded
the average citizen.

The second concerns the growing partnership
between the universities and the government.
Although the University so far has
maintained a good sense of perspective on
this matter, surely every student has had
at least one professor who couldn't meet
his class because he was serving on some
official committee or being consulted by
some governmental agency. Whether such
a partnership will be ultimately to the good
of the universities is yet to be seen.