Isaiah Berlin: A Life — 8: New York

1. 1. Isaiah Berlin traveled to New York in July 1940 with Guy Burgess, unaware that Burgess was a Soviet agent using Berlin as cover for a mission to Moscow.
2. 2. Berlin's attempt to proceed to Moscow was blocked by British Ambassador Stafford Cripps, who saw no use for a Latvian-born official and refused accreditation.
3. 3. Berlin initially disliked America, finding it lacking in European nuance, but soon built a network of influential contacts including Joe Alsop and Ben Cohen.
4. 4. Berlin returned to England in October 1940 to prove he wasn't a coward, but was ordered back to New York a month later to work for British Information Services.
5. 5. Berlin's job was to get America into the war by lobbying unions, black organizations, and Jewish groups, and he produced weekly reports on American public opinion.
6. 6. Berlin believed Roosevelt wanted to win the war without fighting it, and 80% of Americans opposed sending troops until Pearl Harbor.
7. 7. Berlin's American experience taught him that judgment and character matter more than intelligence, and he adopted a realist outlook from Bishop Butler.
8. 8. Berlin defended the British White Paper banning Jewish immigration to Palestine, despite personally finding it an abomination, creating a conflict of loyalties.
9. 9. Berlin mediated between Chaim Weizmann and Felix Frankfurter, and maintained ties with David Ben-Gurion, who sought to seduce him away from the Weizmann camp.
10. 10. A private letter in which Berlin revealed the real reason against a Jewish army—that it would antagonize Arabs—was intercepted by censors, leading to a reprimand.
11. 11. Berlin learned of the Pearl Harbor attack from a cab driver on December 7, 1941, after lunching with Ben-Gurion, and British officials celebrated America's entry into the war.