Whittaker Chambers: A Biography by Sam Tanenhaus

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Now that the Cold War is over, it is puzzling to reflect on the attraction Soviet Communism held for American intellectuals in the 1920s and 1930s. In his new biography of Whittaker Chambers, Sam Tanenhaus captures the allure of communism for young intellectuals including Whittaker Chambers. Chambers early life was a quest for meaning in a life filled with disappointment at home and easy-going nihilism in public education. Chambers search for meaning first found outlet in Marxism and especially its Soviet version. Tanenhaus meticulously retraces Chambers tortured private life, meteroic career as a writer and student at Columbia University, his decision to become a communist in 1925, his career as a spy, and finally his defection in 1938.

The focus and bulk of the book is, of course, on the trial and eventual conviction for perjury of Alger Hiss. Following his defection from the Communist Party, Chambers accused several high level officials in the U.S. Government of spying for the Soviet Union. Most of those accused by Chambers took the 5th Amendment when questioned by the House Un-American Activites Committee. Alger Hiss did not take the 5th but denied not only that he was a communist but also he denied that he ever knew anyone named Whittaker Chambers. Tanenhaus retraces the investigations of the House Un-American Activities Committee and then the two trials (the first ended in a hung jury, 8-4 for conviction) which lead to Hiss's conviction for perjury in the second trial. The Hiss Case was a defining moment in the history and origins of the Cold War. The case riveted the nation and divided opinion as few episdoes have. Tanenhaus's book captures the intensity of the moment and makes for a good read. The co ntrast between the brooding, rumpled, Dostoevskean Chambers and the sophisticated, confident, Ivy League educated, and well-credentialed Hiss is drama of the first order. The outcome of the trial a credit to the American judicial system. Interesting sidelights, include the tenacious investigative actions of a young freshman Congressman on the House Un-American Activities Committee named Richard Nixon and also Chambers's precocious warnings about the reckless character of Joseph McCarthy's anti-communism and prediction that McCarthy's antics would be counter-productive to the cause of anti-communism.

Following the trial, Tanenhaus chronicles Chambers's lonely years on his Maryland farm and his close relationship with National Review, William F. Buckley, Jr. and other conservative luminaries of the 1950s.

This book should close the book on the controversy surrounding the Hiss Case.

This book was reviewed by Dr. Mickey Craig, an Adjunct Fellow at the Ashbrook Center and the Anna Margaret Ross Alexander Chair of Political Science at Hillsdale College