Spanning the Century: The Life of W. Averell Harriman, 1891-1986

Short-tempered, humorless, intolerant and not especially articulate, Harriman nevertheless made himself useful to several presidents as an expediter, fixer and diplomat. Best remembered as FDR's wartime emissary to Churchill and Stalin, he went on to serve as secretary of commerce under Truman and roving ambassador under Kennedy and Johnson. He was governor of New York from 1954 to 1958, and an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1956. In this authorized, deeply researched and candid biography, Los Angeles Times reporter Abramson presents new material on Harriman's difficult relationship with his father (railroad baron E. H. Harriman), his struggle to overcome shyness and stuttering, his formative experiences at Groton and Yale, his business career and management of the Harriman fortune, his adventures as an international polo star, his three marriages and, late in life, his central role in concluding a nuclear test-ban treaty with the Soviets. Abramson succeeds in bringing this enigmatic figure, one of the most important of the Cold Warriors, to vivid, three-dimensional life. Photos. (July)