WEBVTT NOTE 7. Life in New York 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.800 Chapter 7 Life in New York 2 00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:07.280 Though Lew had constantly tried, he had not yet found a position that he liked and that 3 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:12.520 would relieve our financial worries. He asked little for himself and he never complained, 4 00:00:12.520 --> 00:00:17.240 but it hurt him, for my sake, that we had to live so carefully. Yet, though we hardly 5 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:22.940 ever went out for dinner, he insisted on going to the theater once a week. America was at 6 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:27.460 war and we, who had lived through so much war in Europe, were astonished how little 7 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:34.460 The end of the war seemed to affect people in America, with exception of those, of course, whose sons or husbands were in the service. 8 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:45.460 There was no food shortage. Many items were rationed, but I remember only coffee and sugar having been really scarce, and once in a while you could not get the special meat you were looking for. 9 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:53.460 When I watched people around me and saw that everyone was working, I was dissatisfied with myself and became restless. 10 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:58.500 I had to remind myself again and again of the promise I had given myself, that Lew's 11 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:03.220 work and well-being should be the main purpose of my life. Though I tried to hide it, Lew 12 00:01:03.220 --> 00:01:08.440 noticed my dissatisfaction and urged me to go back to the stage, but that was impossible 13 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:14.740 for a newcomer in a foreign country, especially in wartime without connections. Then he insisted 14 00:01:14.740 --> 00:01:23.260 I should try radio, and that I did. For weeks I auditioned with WOR, CBS, and WNEW. I got 15 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:27.540 Without encouraging letters and was invited for further auditions, the result was always 16 00:01:27.540 --> 00:01:33.700 the same, wait, come to our studio every day, we promise you, as soon as a part turns up 17 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:36.580 for you, you are going to get it. 18 00:01:36.580 --> 00:01:41.480 But I could not wait weeks and months sitting around in studios and agencies, Lew needed 19 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:42.980 me at home. 20 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:47.640 Without me or a housekeeper, he was completely helpless, he did not even know how to boil 21 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:49.060 an egg. 22 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:50.940 Years later he would often say, 23 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:55.260 The greatest invention of the twentieth century is instant coffee. 24 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.900 Even I can fix myself something to drink. 25 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:00.740 It is easier than peeling an orange. 26 00:02:00.740 --> 00:02:05.100 Lew never learned that his right hand could be used for other purposes than writing. 27 00:02:05.100 --> 00:02:07.620 His manual dexterity was zero. 28 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:08.980 But I knew his weaknesses. 29 00:02:08.980 --> 00:02:11.320 I had known them before we were married. 30 00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:14.480 And perhaps I loved him the more for them. 31 00:02:14.480 --> 00:02:18.780 The summer of 1942 taught us something about middle class America. 32 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.380 We went to the Poconos for our vacation. 33 00:02:21.380 --> 00:02:26.380 Lew had chosen the hotel, a small, simple inn, with perhaps 30 guests in all. 34 00:02:26.380 --> 00:02:30.500 The owner of the place picked us up at the station, and when we passed the churchyard, 35 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:35.420 she said, this is the cemetery, now we are slowly approaching the inn. 36 00:02:35.420 --> 00:02:39.540 After a few days, Lew told me he thought it would have been more appropriate if she had 37 00:02:39.540 --> 00:02:44.820 said, after a short stay in our inn, you will be rapidly reaching the cemetery. 38 00:02:44.820 --> 00:02:48.740 The guests were all extremely friendly, and expected the same from us. 39 00:02:48.740 --> 00:03:07.740 Lew's reserved ways, always polite, of course, tickled their curiosity, and they had to know more about us. Soon they found out that Lew was a writer and a professor, which meant to them he was a school teacher. And that all school teachers were paid poorly, they knew. They certainly had never met a scholar before. 40 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:25.740 One morning a woman told me, I read an article of your husband's in the Mercury, Inflation and You. How interesting it is to meet a writer. I read all through breakfast. You folks must tell me more about writing. How long would you say did it take your husband to do this article? What is he doing now? 41 00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:31.740 You are from Austria, another said to me. Isn't that the country where the sheep come from? 42 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:38.140 Apparently, she had mixed up Austria with Australia. One lady complained to Lew, 43 00:03:38.140 --> 00:03:41.740 Imagine the cheek, they have put a second boy in my son's room. 44 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:44.340 Without asking you, said Lew. 45 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:50.540 Oh no, she replied, they did not put him in his bed. That I never would have allowed. 46 00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:56.340 Among the guests were two sisters, together perhaps one hundred and eighty years old. 47 00:03:56.340 --> 00:04:00.340 They admired Lew greatly, and followed him wherever he went. 48 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:07.340 One day one of them told Lew that she had visited Columbia University, studied French, and loved to translate. 49 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:10.340 Just recently she said, I have done some interesting work. 50 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:14.340 What was it? Lew asked politely to show his interest. 51 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:20.340 We have a little nephew, she answered, who is 12 years old. He is a wonderful writer. 52 00:04:20.340 --> 00:04:26.340 Recently he wrote a little story about his dog, and I translated it. Would you care to read it? 53 00:04:26.340 --> 00:04:42.340 You can imagine how stimulating such people were for my husband. The result was that we hastily escaped after only two weeks. By this time, I understood him so well, he just had to give me a certain sign and I knew what he wanted. 54 00:04:42.340 --> 00:05:00.340 When we came back to New York, life became somewhat more regular than before. We were often invited out, and at least twice weekly we saw guests at our home. During my free time, I was busy sending food parcels to Europe, mostly to England, where the need was great, and we had so many friends. 55 00:05:00.340 --> 00:05:28.340 As I knew myself and my need for my work in a purposeful life, in 1943 I decided to take a course in English stenography and typing. If I could not get a job, I could help Lew, that was sure. I registered with the Delahunty Institute on 42nd Street, and for six months I went to school every day from nine to one, and every afternoon I sat down to do my homework. Shorthand seemed like a puzzle. It fascinated me. 56 00:05:28.340 --> 00:05:36.340 I hardly had finished the course when I got a job with Sunborn & Company, a chemical firm, as private secretary to the president. 57 00:05:36.340 --> 00:05:43.340 Had there not been a war and help so hard to get, I, a middle-aged beginner, would never have been chosen for the job. 58 00:05:43.340 --> 00:05:48.340 To me it did not even seem real. I felt as if I were on stage again. 59 00:05:48.340 --> 00:05:52.340 The scene was set in a beautiful office in the financial district of the city. 60 00:05:52.340 --> 00:05:59.340 There were 125 employees, mostly young men and girls, who wasted much time at the water coolers and restrooms. 61 00:05:59.340 --> 00:06:02.340 I often wondered how they ever could accomplish anything. 62 00:06:02.340 --> 00:06:06.340 I alone would walk in and out of the president's office. 63 00:06:06.340 --> 00:06:08.340 Nevertheless, I felt like a stranger. 64 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:16.340 Only on Fridays, when I, like the others, got an envelope with a paycheck, did I know that this was part of my new life, that it was real. 65 00:06:16.340 --> 00:06:21.680 I did not stay even a year. Lew could not bear the thought of my coming home in the 66 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:27.320 rush hour, tired, and then having to prepare dinner and work in the kitchen. Since he still 67 00:06:27.320 --> 00:06:32.540 did not have a secretary, I soon afterwards started to work for him. Lew was asked to 68 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:37.900 become a member of the Overseas Rotary Fellowship in New York. In the first years he attended 69 00:06:37.900 --> 00:06:42.620 their weekly luncheons frequently. Later, when he was too deeply involved in his writing, 70 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:46.700 He went only to their annual banquet, where I accompanied him. 71 00:06:46.700 --> 00:06:50.140 He had been a regular member of the Rotary Club in Vienna. 72 00:06:50.140 --> 00:06:54.500 In Europe, the Rotary Clubs were somewhat different than those here in America. 73 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:58.920 In the old country, every Rotary member was the most distinguished representative of his 74 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.120 profession in the city. 75 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:05.960 During their meetings, they discussed important political, economic, and social questions. 76 00:07:05.960 --> 00:07:10.480 That was why Hitler immediately dissolved not only the Freemasons, but also the Rotary 77 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:19.840 At the end of 1942, Lew started writing various articles for the New York Times. I assume 78 00:07:19.840 --> 00:07:25.280 it must have been Henry Hazlitt, at that time an influential editor of the Times, who induced 79 00:07:25.280 --> 00:07:30.880 him to write these articles. Though the slogan of the Times, then as today, was all the news 80 00:07:30.880 --> 00:07:36.220 that's fit to print, and though these beautiful words have not changed in all these years, 81 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:40.000 The ideological tendency of the Times certainly has. 82 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.380 The best proof of this is their magazine and book review. 83 00:07:43.380 --> 00:07:48.620 I wonder how often any conservative or libertarian could write an article for the New York Times 84 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:49.860 today. 85 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:56.140 They have one or two conservative news analysts, but they are purely tokens. 86 00:07:56.140 --> 00:08:04.020 From March 28, 1942 to July 31, 1943, Lew wrote nine articles for the Times. 87 00:08:04.020 --> 00:08:08.460 For each of them he received $10, but that was unimportant. 88 00:08:08.460 --> 00:08:13.100 More important was that his name became familiar to the general reader, and the numerous letters 89 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:16.480 resulting from these articles were surprising. 90 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:22.360 These nine articles were titled, Hitler's Achilles Heel, The Nazis Under Blockade, Germany's 91 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:28.780 Transport Problems, Reich Gets Big Shock, The Problems of a Post-War Union of the Democratic 92 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:37.020 Unions, A New World Currency, Industrial Empires, Inflation and Money Supply, and British Postwar 93 00:08:37.020 --> 00:08:39.100 Problems. 94 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:43.220 Another consequence of these articles was Lew's introduction to the National Association 95 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.500 of Manufacturers. 96 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:53.860 On January 4th, 1943, Noel Sargent, Secretary of NAMM, and Veda Horsch, the Assistant Secretary, 97 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:58.540 invited him to come and see them in their offices on 53rd Street. 98 00:08:58.540 --> 00:09:03.220 They had read Lew's articles in the Times and wanted his views on how to terminate wage 99 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:05.260 and price controls. 100 00:09:05.260 --> 00:09:10.020 These were the golden days of NAMM, theirs was the leading voice for free enterprise. 101 00:09:10.020 --> 00:09:15.060 Shortly after this first meeting, he was invited to work with the Economic Principles Commission, 102 00:09:15.060 --> 00:09:19.380 which was authorized by NAMM's President and Board of Directors and which functioned for 103 00:09:19.380 --> 00:09:20.980 many years. 104 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:26.020 Lew was a contributing member of the special group that created a two-volume study called 105 00:09:26.020 --> 00:09:30.260 The Nature and Evolution of the Free Enterprise System. 106 00:09:30.260 --> 00:09:36.340 Lew's relations with the NAMM lasted from 1943 to 1954, giving him a forum where he 107 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:41.580 met all the important industrialists of the country, the most respected economists, and 108 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:43.980 the best-known businessmen. 109 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:50.240 In 1943, besides the numerous economic meetings and sessions with the NAMM on monetary reform 110 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:56.220 and Economic Principles, he was a member of a commission to study the Organization of Peace, 111 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:02.960 and he participated in Count Kudaihov's Pan-Europe Conference in March 1943. 112 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:09.760 On March 15th, 1943, he spoke on Aspects of American Foreign Trade Policy in the Faculty 113 00:10:09.760 --> 00:10:12.240 Club of New York University. 114 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:18.520 On April 10th, he spoke in Boston at the 20th Century Association on Economic Nationalism 115 00:10:18.520 --> 00:10:24.720 and Peaceful Cooperation, where he said, in short, economic nationalism is the root cause 116 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:31.080 of the international conflicts which resulted in two world wars. It was economic nationalism 117 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:38.480 that, on the one hand, drove the dynamic nations into aggression, and, on the other hand, prevented 118 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:44.040 the peaceful nations from stopping in time the rise of Nazism and from erecting a barrier 119 00:10:44.040 --> 00:10:54.040 All plans for a better post-war order are futile if they do not succeed in eliminating protectionism and establishing free trade. 120 00:10:54.040 --> 00:10:58.040 On November 10th and 11th he gave two lectures at Princeton. 121 00:10:58.040 --> 00:11:06.040 It was a great financial relief for us when William J. Carson, the Executive Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research, 122 00:11:06.040 --> 00:11:11.040 wrote to Lou that the Rockefeller Foundation had renewed his grant for another two years 123 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:17.480 had renewed his grant for another two years, to the end of November 1944. Also by this 124 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:22.900 time his connection with the Yale University Press had begun. See Chapter 8, The Story 125 00:11:22.900 --> 00:11:25.080 of Human Action. 126 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:30.760 The next 25 years were positively the most productive and creative of Lew's life. I never 127 00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:36.100 knew how he could manage, but he had time for everything and everyone. His mind and 128 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:41.100 and his time were equally well organized, and there was not a Saturday or Sunday, if 129 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:45.740 there was no NAM meeting, when he did not go with me to a museum or to an art gallery 130 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:49.380 in the morning, and to a theater in the evening. 131 00:11:49.380 --> 00:11:55.020 I have already written about Professor Paul Manteau and mentioned his son Etienne. Etienne 132 00:11:55.020 --> 00:12:00.340 was very dear to Lou. He had often attended his course in Geneva and came to the house 133 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:04.620 to converse with Lou, who thought Etienne to be one of the most promising scholars of 134 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:09.520 of the Future. At the beginning of the war, Etienne served in the French Air Force as 135 00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:15.780 an observation officer on the Tsar Frontier. In 1941, under a grant from the Rockefeller 136 00:12:15.780 --> 00:12:20.980 Foundation, he came to the United States for research at Princeton's Institute for Advanced 137 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:27.980 Studies. He was working on a book on canes, published in 1952 by Charles Scribner's sons. 138 00:12:28.280 --> 00:12:33.780 He came to New York often, sometimes two or three times a month, to see Lew. 139 00:12:33.780 --> 00:12:41.420 One special afternoon, Tuesday, March 16th, 1943, I will never forget. He came home early, 140 00:12:41.420 --> 00:12:47.460 I served tea, we spoke about his parents, Paris, Geneva, the war, but soon I felt he 141 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:53.380 was impatient to talk to Lew about his own work. I excused myself and went out. At the 142 00:12:53.380 --> 00:12:58.260 door before closing it, I turned around, and suddenly the couch where Etienne had been 143 00:13:28.260 --> 00:13:37.260 You simply are imagining things. He is not in the Air Force anymore. But I saw he was uneasy and said this only to quiet me. 144 00:13:37.260 --> 00:13:43.260 A short time afterward, Etienne returned to France and resumed his officer's duties in the Air Force. 145 00:13:43.260 --> 00:13:56.260 On April 29th, 1945, hardly more than a week before the bells rang for victory and peace, his plane was shot down near a small Bavarian village in the Danube Valley, killing him. 146 00:13:56.260 --> 00:14:03.140 Lew was deeply shocked and grieved. Etienne Manteau had meant so much to him, and Lew 147 00:14:03.140 --> 00:14:08.960 later wrote in his article, Stones into Bread, The Keynesian Miracle. A highly gifted French 148 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:15.620 economist, Etienne Manteau has analyzed Keynes point for point. Etienne Manteau, son of the 149 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:21.380 famous historian Paul Manteau, was the most distinguished of the younger French economists. 150 00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:26.740 He had already made valuable contributions to economic theory, among them a keen critique 151 00:14:26.740 --> 00:14:33.300 of Keynes' general theory, published in 1937 in the Revue d'Economie Politique. 152 00:14:33.300 --> 00:14:39.540 Before he began his The Carthaginian Peace, or The Economic Consequences of Mr. Keynes, 153 00:14:39.540 --> 00:14:42.340 he did not live to see his book published. 154 00:14:42.340 --> 00:14:47.260 As an officer in the French Air Force, he was killed in active service during the last 155 00:14:47.260 --> 00:14:48.800 days of the war. 156 00:14:48.800 --> 00:14:54.220 His premature death is a heavy blow to France, which is today badly in need of sound and 157 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:56.680 courageous economists. 158 00:14:56.680 --> 00:15:02.960 This article was first published by Isaac Don Levine in Plain Talk, March 1948, and 159 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:07.360 was reprinted in Ludwig von Mises' Planning for Freedom. 160 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:13.060 In 1943, at a party with the Hazlets, we met Lawrence Vertig and his wife Bertie. 161 00:15:13.060 --> 00:15:17.780 In all the years we knew her, we never heard her say an unkind word about anyone. 162 00:15:17.780 --> 00:15:23.100 We always tried to understand and excuse human frailty. Over the years, the Fairtigs became 163 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:28.820 our closest friends. Haslett and Fairtig, who were close friends, had recognized immediately 164 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:34.680 that Lew, a genuine scholar, was not the type to publish only for money. So they both did 165 00:15:34.680 --> 00:15:40.200 for Lew what he himself could not do. They made sure that, financially, Lew got ground 166 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:45.860 under his feet again. He could never ask for anything for himself, for his writing, yes, 167 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:51.980 not personally. One little episode may be significant. Lew always wanted me to travel 168 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:56.900 with him when he lectured, but he could not afford to pay for me. One day, it must have 169 00:15:56.900 --> 00:16:02.340 been in the 40s, Haslett told Lew about an invitation he got for a lecture trip. He did 170 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:07.460 not want to go without Francis, so Haslett answered, Is Mrs. Haslett included in this 171 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:14.140 invitation? Of course, came the reply. From that day on, Lew followed Haslett's example, 172 00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:19.820 and he did not have to travel alone anymore. In later years, Lew's invitations always included 173 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:26.260 me. A man like Lew could not have had a better friend than Hazlitt. His enthusiasm for Lew's 174 00:16:26.260 --> 00:16:32.220 ideas, Lew's teachings, Lew's convictions was so honest, his thinking so parallel to 175 00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:37.180 Lew's perception that he had the constant urge to write about Lew, to show the world 176 00:16:37.180 --> 00:16:42.300 what it could gain by reading Lew's books and what it could lose by neglecting them. 177 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:48.060 Fertig was well known through his weekly column, which appeared for 17 years in the now defunct 178 00:16:48.060 --> 00:16:53.160 World Telegram, through his book Prosperity Through Freedom, and through his frequent 179 00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:59.660 appearances on television in political and economic discussions. In 113 of his columns, 180 00:16:59.660 --> 00:17:05.960 he mentioned Lew not less than 18 times. Over more than 30 years, every Sunday morning when 181 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:11.520 we were in town, the telephone rang, Larry asking for Lew. They would talk for almost 182 00:17:11.520 --> 00:17:16.320 Just an hour, this was the weekly review. Everything that had happened in economics 183 00:17:16.320 --> 00:17:21.240 and politics, all the burning questions of the day would be discussed, and Lew gave his 184 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.760 forewarnings for the future. 185 00:17:23.760 --> 00:17:28.440 Larry was more optimistic than Lew, though Lew at that time did not see the situation 186 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:34.160 of the United States as hopeless. He had confidence in the strength of America, confidence that 187 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:39.460 she would pull out of the difficult situation inflation had brought about. But whatever 188 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:44.100 Whatever he said and wrote contained a warning about the growing deficit in productivity 189 00:17:44.100 --> 00:17:48.740 in comparison to America's supply of goods and services. 190 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:53.600 Almost immediately after Lew put down the receiver, the telephone would ring again. 191 00:17:53.600 --> 00:17:57.780 This time it would be Henry Hazlitt, Harry to his friends. 192 00:17:57.780 --> 00:18:02.060 This conversation would last another hour with different questions and answers, but 193 00:18:02.060 --> 00:18:04.820 Lew's warnings were always the same. 194 00:18:04.820 --> 00:18:09.440 These were the only two people with whom my husband really talked on the telephone, mostly 195 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:14.480 I answered. Appointments and arrangements were made through me. For Lew the telephone 196 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:21.200 was a necessary but disturbing means of communication. He tried to avoid it as much as possible. 197 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.080 A third of our very close friends was Philippe Courtney, who had lived in Paris. Courtney 198 00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:31.200 was head of an important steel export firm in Paris and director of the executive committee 199 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:37.100 of the Banque Transatlantique of Paris. He was married to a former singer of the Opera 200 00:18:37.100 --> 00:18:52.100 And when the Germans occupied France, the Courtneys came to the United States and made their home in New York, where Philippe joined the American branch factory of Coty, the renowned perfume manufacturer, becoming the firm's president. 201 00:18:52.100 --> 00:18:59.100 Strangely enough, he hated the smell of perfume. He was not even able to recognize the difference between scents. 202 00:18:59.100 --> 00:19:04.900 But he loved economics and reading, and very soon he became an enthusiastic admirer of 203 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:10.460 Lew's and a great friend of mine. He was, if I remember rightly, the first one to suggest 204 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:15.620 in a French newspaper that Lew deserved the Nobel Prize for Human Action. 205 00:19:15.620 --> 00:19:21.900 Hortny was opposed to a government-fixed gold price, and he fought like a lion for his ideas. 206 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:26.880 If the government did or said anything that displeased him, a letter went off or an editorial 207 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:38.880 Philippe was the most hospitable and generous friend imaginable. For many years he invited 208 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:43.920 the family, as we called our little group, for dinner at the plaza. The round corner 209 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:50.000 table number one was always reserved for him. This was the table at which Helen Trouble and 210 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.760 Loritz Melchior used to dine with their friends after the opera. Our family included, besides 211 00:19:56.760 --> 00:19:59.800 and to Lew and myself, the Haslitz and the Fertigs. 212 00:19:59.800 --> 00:20:02.800 Philippe often invited other people to these dinners. 213 00:20:02.800 --> 00:20:07.800 Bill and Mary Peterson, about whom I have written more elsewhere, were frequent guests. 214 00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:13.800 One of the more regular participants was Dr. Albert Hahn, a well-known economist and banker. 215 00:20:13.800 --> 00:20:21.800 Later, in the 50s, he returned with Nora, his beautiful wife, to Switzerland, where he died in 1968. 216 00:20:21.800 --> 00:20:28.400 Albert Hahn's wit, humor and sarcasm fit splendidly into the atmosphere of these dinner parties. 217 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:34.500 Whenever a famous Frenchman whom Philippe knew was in town, he invited him to join us. 218 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:38.900 André Moiroy was Philippe's guest several times. 219 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:43.000 Never did Philippe receive his guests without a present for the ladies. 220 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:49.900 Every new lipstick his factory produced had to get the seal of approval from the lips of the wives of these favorite friends, 221 00:20:49.900 --> 00:20:54.820 and all of us were at all times provided with the best of his perfumes. 222 00:20:54.820 --> 00:21:00.040 King Arthur's round table dinners had a certain unforgettable color and charm. 223 00:21:00.040 --> 00:21:02.540 The discussions were lively and animated. 224 00:21:02.540 --> 00:21:07.620 Attentive service, good food and excellent wine elated and lubricated our minds. 225 00:21:07.620 --> 00:21:12.560 We were gay but never noisy, and never, never was there any gossiping. 226 00:21:12.560 --> 00:21:17.500 In retrospect, I would say that these evenings belonged to my fondest memories. 227 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:22.300 Lew always looked forward to these gatherings with as much pleasure as I did. He relished 228 00:21:22.300 --> 00:21:26.900 those hours with friends who were so close to him and his way of thinking, for in their 229 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:33.940 congenial company he could talk without restraint. In August 1943 we again went to the White 230 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:40.620 Mountains, but this time we stayed at Ravine House. Again we made the most beautiful climbs. 231 00:21:40.620 --> 00:21:46.180 On Monday August 9th we went up to Carter Dome. On August 12th we walked again up to 232 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:52.500 to Mount Washington, but this time via Gulfside Trail to Edmonds Cole and back via Randolph 233 00:21:52.500 --> 00:21:59.260 Path to Ravine House. This excursion we made with our very good friends Luis and Lucy Rougier. 234 00:21:59.260 --> 00:22:03.740 The Rougiers had to leave Paris when the Germans occupied France, and they remained in New 235 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:08.340 York during the war, living very close to us. We saw each other at least two or three 236 00:22:08.340 --> 00:22:15.220 times weekly. On August 15th, Lou and I went up to Carter Notch. On the 16th, we hardly 237 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:25.220 on the 20th, we went to Dome Rock, where we met the Havelaires, mountain climbers like us. 238 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:37.220 On the 21st, we went to the Lookout Ledge and Crescent House, and on the 25th to Pine Mountain, and on the 27th to the Hudson Huts via Valley Way, returning via Knife Edge. 239 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:44.220 On one of these hikes, we unexpectedly met Richard, Lew's brother and his future wife, a well-known mathematician, 240 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:49.540 and for many years Richard's assistant, whom I had never met before. Lew always insisted 241 00:22:49.540 --> 00:22:55.200 he would not work during the summer, that is to say, he would not write. He kept his 242 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:00.660 resolution so strictly that he did not even write to his friends. That was my task. That's 243 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:05.620 what I married you for, he joked. But on our walks I frequently saw him deeply lost in 244 00:23:05.620 --> 00:23:11.580 thoughts. Then I would stay absolutely quiet. I knew how necessary this complete silence 245 00:23:11.580 --> 00:23:16.860 was for the working of his mind, and I also knew that he was happy because, though lost 246 00:23:16.860 --> 00:23:22.680 in his thoughts, he knew he was not alone, I was with him. From time to time he took 247 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:27.700 my hand or put his arm around my shoulder, never saying a word just to assure himself 248 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:34.580 that I was near. The next summer, 1944, we spent at Lake Placid where we met many friends, 249 00:23:34.580 --> 00:23:39.500 made beautiful excursions, and decided in the end that New Hampshire was more to our 250 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:45.500 On our walks every day, Lew tried to convince me that I should not neglect what he called 251 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:52.500 my talent for writing, which he felt I proved so successfully in Vienna with my stage adaptations. 252 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:55.500 Write short stories, he told me, you can do it. 253 00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:59.500 And he ordered a book for me to study the composition of short stories. 254 00:23:59.500 --> 00:24:03.500 Actually, he said, there is only one important thing to observe. 255 00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:06.500 You must build up the whole story for a surprise ending. 256 00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:10.500 If you can do that, you have a good story. 257 00:24:10.500 --> 00:24:15.500 That summer I wrote one short story after the other. I had ideas enough. 258 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:21.500 But when we came back to New York, I was much too busy working with Lew to be able to follow his advice. 259 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:28.500 On October 12th, 1944, Lew made his first long trip alone since our arrival in the United States. 260 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:32.500 He had not yet learned Haslett's prescription for getting me invited. 261 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:41.500 This trip was arranged by the NAMM advisory group, with the purpose of having Lew talk at two meetings, one in Los Angeles, the other in San Francisco. 262 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:48.500 For Los Angeles, he had chosen as his subject depression and unemployment. Are they inevitable? 263 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:53.500 In San Francisco, he was to talk about the crisis of free enterprise. 264 00:24:53.500 --> 00:25:08.500 A letter that Lew got shortly before he left, signed J.A.R., name unreadable, Director of Braun Corporation Chemicals and Laboratory Supplies, Los Angeles, gives an interesting description of California at that time. 265 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:14.500 Southern California is very definitely and vitally interested in the problem of the depression and unemployment. 266 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:20.500 Probably we, in Southern California, have one of the most critical areas in the United States. 267 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:25.500 We are today practically a two-industry community, ships and planes. 268 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:33.500 I think that no citizen group in America is more keenly aware of the crisis of free enterprise than our group in Los Angeles. 269 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:37.500 There is one factor to which your attention should definitely be drawn. 270 00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:45.500 Very probably you are already aware of the differences in thinking of business and industrial men in San Francisco and Los Angeles. 271 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:53.500 San Francisco has been a closed shop city for many, many years. Business executives up there have grown accustomed to this idea. 272 00:25:53.500 --> 00:26:03.500 They have, we in Los Angeles think, a defeatist attitude. They are apparently making very little attempt to throw off any of the shackles of the closed shop. 273 00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:11.500 In Los Angeles, on the other hand, our executives have seen Los Angeles develop from a second-rate city to a real power. 274 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:24.500 They attribute, and I agree with them, that much of this industrial growth has been due to the fact that Los Angeles has, during this long period of years, been able to maintain open shop conditions. 275 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:33.500 I bring this difference in these two cities to your attention to remind you of the different thinking which is being done in Los Angeles and in our sister city to the north. 276 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:41.500 For some time, Lew had been in correspondence with Leonard Reed, then General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. 277 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:51.500 In his first letter, dated June 4, 1943, Reed invited Lew for a series of lectures on behalf of Free Competitive Enterprise, 278 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:55.500 and he sent Lew a pamphlet published by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. 279 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:57.500 Lew answered on June 12th, 280 00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:05.500 The arena in which the fate of the West will be decided is neither the conference rooms of the diplomats nor the offices of the bureaucrats, 281 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:09.500 not the capital in Washington, not the election campaigns. 282 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:18.500 The only thing which really matters is the outcome of the intellectual combat between the supporters of socialism and those of capitalism, 283 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:32.500 The masses, those millions of voters who are supreme in democracy, have to learn that they are deluded by spurious doctrines, and that only market society and free enterprise can bring them what they want, prosperity. 284 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:39.500 But in order to persuade the crowd, you have first to convince the elite, the intellectuals and the businessmen themselves. 285 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:57.500 He agreed to give some lectures, and Reed proposed the date of October 20th, 1944, having heard that Lew would be in California around that time. He also invited him for dinner at his home to meet a group of outstanding men, among them my husband's good friend, Benjamin M. Anderson. 286 00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:07.500 On Monday, October 16th, Lew arrived in Los Angeles, and for the next two days he was the guest of R.C. Hoyles, publisher of the Santa Ana Register. 287 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:19.500 During these two days he spoke twice, once at a forum lecture sponsored by the Register, about the causes of war, and once at the Santa Ana Rotary Club, about credit expansion and depression. 288 00:28:19.500 --> 00:28:33.500 It was on October 18th, 1944, that Lew met Leonard Reed for the first time. Leonard Reed, who was to play such an important part in Lew's future. I would like Leonard to tell you about this first meeting in his own words. 289 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:45.500 It was during World War II, about 1944, that I met Dr. Mises. As General Manager of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, I had invited him to address a meeting of our Board. 290 00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:57.500 Mises outlined in his talk the inevitable path of government intervention. He pointed out how government regulation leads to problems and misfortunes its advocates had not anticipated. 291 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:08.500 If they do not realize that the causes of this mischief rest on the intervention by force of government, in the market they propose another and still another government intervention. 292 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:14.500 Each law is enacted in the attempt to cure the ills caused by the point of view of its proponents. 293 00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:24.500 Until finally, the only opportunity that still seems open is to take the final steps leading to a completely controlled economy of the Nazi or Russian type. 294 00:29:24.500 --> 00:29:28.500 It was a pessimistic picture that Mises painted in that lecture. 295 00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:35.500 Each of us in the audience could see a parallel between the theory he presented and the path our own government was traveling, 296 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:43.500 with its wartime price and wage controls, priority in the allotment of raw materials, rationing of consumer goods, and the like. 297 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:47.020 After the talk, one of our audience questioned the speaker. 298 00:29:47.020 --> 00:29:51.060 It is depressing prospect that you have outlined, Dr. Mises. 299 00:29:51.060 --> 00:29:56.940 Considering the program our politicians have adopted, and its inevitable disastrous consequences, 300 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:01.220 what would you do if by chance you were made dictator of this country? 301 00:30:01.220 --> 00:30:06.300 What first step would you take, Dr. Mises, if you could do just exactly as you wished? 302 00:30:06.300 --> 00:30:11.100 Mises' eyes sparkled, and quick as a flash he replied with a grin, 303 00:30:11.100 --> 00:30:13.720 I would abdicate! 304 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:16.660 With this statement, Mises endeared himself to me. 305 00:30:16.660 --> 00:30:23.320 Here, I realized, was a truly consistent libertarian, one who really did not believe in using the 306 00:30:23.320 --> 00:30:28.380 power of the government to bend people to his way of thinking. 307 00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:32.020 Lew often wrote to me from the West, if only a few words. 308 00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:35.580 On the train near Salt Lake City, he wrote on October 15th, 309 00:30:35.580 --> 00:30:37.900 Darling, everything is okay. 310 00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:39.980 It is awful to travel alone. 311 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:44.420 I am sorry you are not with me. I love you. Kisses, Lew. 312 00:30:44.420 --> 00:30:49.500 On the 18th he wrote, Darling, I am through with three of my speeches and now can rest 313 00:30:49.500 --> 00:30:54.220 a little. I was rather disappointed that there was no letter of yours here in the hotel. 314 00:30:54.220 --> 00:31:00.360 Why, what does it mean? Tomorrow I have luncheon with Anderson. I kiss you. 315 00:31:00.360 --> 00:31:05.980 The next day I got only three lines. You mean everything to me. Without you there is no 316 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:09.260 sun shining for me any more. 317 00:31:09.260 --> 00:31:24.260 He was happy to come home again. I think the greatest impression Lew had on this trip was Leonard Reed's stag party. He told me what a surprise it was for him to see his host put on a chef's cap, an apron, and barbecue the steaks for dinner. 318 00:31:24.260 --> 00:31:34.260 Lew observed, Never in my life have I eaten better broiled steaks than these. It was a new experience for him to see a well-read intellectual working in the kitchen. 319 00:31:34.260 --> 00:31:42.260 On December 6th, 1944, Lew received the following letter from Dean E. Roland Collins of New York University. 320 00:31:42.260 --> 00:31:52.260 My dear Professor, I have decided to recommend to the Chancellor and Council of the University that you be appointed to the faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration 321 00:31:52.260 --> 00:32:00.260 for the second semester of the academic year 1944 through 1945 as visiting Professor of Economics 322 00:32:00.260 --> 00:32:06.260 to give two hours weekly instruction throughout the semester at a compensation of $1,000. 323 00:32:06.260 --> 00:32:15.260 I propose that you offer a course to be called Statism and the Profit Motive, for which you have suggested the following description. 324 00:32:15.260 --> 00:32:21.260 A critical examination of the viewpoints of the orthodox and unorthodox economists. 325 00:32:21.260 --> 00:32:28.260 The various efforts to restrict the height of profits or to eliminate profits altogether are analyzed in detail. 326 00:32:28.260 --> 00:32:41.260 Special attention is given to the policies of fixed commodity prices, wage rates, and interest rates at a level different from that determined by the unhampered interplay of market factors. 327 00:32:41.260 --> 00:32:47.260 I know that you will understand that final appointment must away approval of the Chancellor and Council. 328 00:32:47.260 --> 00:32:56.260 However, it is the general practice to approve the Dean's recommendations in these matters, so that we can assume that the matter is settled except for public announcement. 329 00:32:56.260 --> 00:33:07.260 The course title that I have used, namely Statism and the profit motive, is subject to change. It may be that you would prefer simply the profit motive. 330 00:33:07.260 --> 00:33:13.260 As always, when he got any letter of importance, Lew came into my room and silently gave me the letter. 331 00:33:13.260 --> 00:33:21.260 Only when he saw my reaction, when he realized that I was happy, did he smile faintly, thus showing what the letter meant to him. 332 00:33:21.260 --> 00:33:48.260 From now on, I knew our life would be changed. He had the opportunity to teach, to have young people share the wealth of his ideas, the clarity of his mind, the logic of his reasoning. I knew what teaching meant to him, and how he had missed it. And when, in January 1945, the letter of approval came from the Council of New York University telling him that the appointment was confirmed, he was happy. 333 00:33:48.260 --> 00:33:56.260 It will always be a credit to New York University that it offered Lew this teaching opportunity at the Graduate School of Business Administration. 334 00:33:56.260 --> 00:34:00.260 Until then, no big university in this country had offered him a chair. 335 00:34:00.260 --> 00:34:06.260 That Dean Collins was a great friend and protractor of Lew's from the first day of their meeting was clear. 336 00:34:06.260 --> 00:34:08.260 So was Dr. Dorot. 337 00:34:08.260 --> 00:34:11.260 But the attitude of the other professors was cool. 338 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:16.260 They were very, very respectful, but Lew was not a man of their kind. 339 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:27.260 He was a stranger to them. When they went home, their work was done and science was buried for the evening with a drink or two, chatting with their family or friends, or enjoying a good game of sport on television. 340 00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:39.260 Often I came to see Lew in his office. He later had a secretary and an assistant, and I noted the respect with which his colleagues treated him, but also the lack of personal warmth. 341 00:34:39.260 --> 00:34:56.260 One of the few exceptions was Professor Lewis H. Haney, who once asked Lew to read the first chapter of his forthcoming book, History of Economic Thought, and do me the great favor of making a critical examination of the chapter, which Lew of course did. 342 00:34:56.260 --> 00:34:59.260 Those courses at NYU were sometimes very exciting. 343 00:34:59.260 --> 00:35:05.260 One of his former students, who wished to remain anonymous, I have to respect, told me, 344 00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:11.260 four or five students had formed a group in order to protect the professor against dissident students who opposed his views. 345 00:35:11.260 --> 00:35:19.260 They occupied a table ahead of the class next to the professor in order to be ready to protect him against any possible violence. 346 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:22.260 But actually, it never went that far. 347 00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:34.260 This was not the only change brought about in 1945. That year, Lew's official connection with the National Bureau of Economic Research came to an end, though Lew always remained on friendly terms with the NBER. 348 00:35:34.260 --> 00:35:38.260 This is part of a letter from William J. Carson of the NBER. 349 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:50.260 The National Bureau has been glad to extend its hospitality to you and to have contributed in this way to carry forward your studies of the economic factors and policies involved in the European crisis. 350 00:35:50.260 --> 00:36:03.260 When you are in the vicinity of the National Bureau at 1919 Broadway or at Hillside, I hope you will always feel free to stop in and see us. Indeed, we hope you will make every effort to call when you can. 351 00:36:03.260 --> 00:36:11.260 Also in 1945, Leonard Reed left California for New York to become Vice President of the National Industrial Conference Board. 352 00:36:11.260 --> 00:36:19.260 Reed's purpose in coming east was to spread the libertarian ideas, which he was convinced were the only means to keep America and the world going. 353 00:36:19.260 --> 00:36:29.260 He only stayed with the conference board for a year. He soon discovered that the flow of ideas for individual liberty was restricted by the influence of labor union leaders. 354 00:36:29.260 --> 00:36:45.260 So some close friends, including J. Howard Pugh, B. E. Hutchinson, a vice president of the Chrysler Corporation, and H. W. Lunow, president of the Volcker Fund, got together and decided to establish their own institution to spread libertarian ideas. 355 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:51.300 They bought a beautiful estate in Irvington, New York, where in 1946 Leonard Reed established 356 00:36:51.300 --> 00:36:57.140 the Foundation for Economic Education, or FEE, and became its president. 357 00:36:57.140 --> 00:37:02.000 It was a touch of genius combined with a shrewd sense of business that caused Leonard to associate 358 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.640 Lew with FEE. 359 00:37:03.640 --> 00:37:08.420 It was the best idea he ever had, for he knew pretty well that if he could anchor the most 360 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:13.020 eminent fighter for the free market to his foundation, not only the existence of the 361 00:37:13.020 --> 00:37:18.940 The Foundation was assured, but it would arouse the widest interest all over the country. 362 00:37:18.940 --> 00:37:24.900 In October 1946, Lew was made a regular member of the Fee staff, and in later years he promised 363 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:28.500 to give a series of lectures in Irvington every year. 364 00:37:28.500 --> 00:37:33.340 The spiritual and intellectual atmosphere there was completely to his taste. 365 00:37:33.340 --> 00:37:38.400 The Fee Mansion is located in a beautiful garden with tall old trees. 366 00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:42.540 The lawn is kept immaculately and flowers bloom everywhere. 367 00:37:42.540 --> 00:37:48.380 The house itself, built in 1888, has a dignity of its own. The rooms are large, the library 368 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:54.620 well stocked, and all over the place there is a harmony of quiet, concentrated working. 369 00:37:54.620 --> 00:37:59.100 The creator of all this was Leonard Reed. The first one at his desk, at eight every 370 00:37:59.100 --> 00:38:05.180 morning, he was the last one to leave in the evening. His studio was tremendously large, 371 00:38:05.180 --> 00:38:10.460 and his oversized desk in a far corner reminded me of Mussolini, who had intentionally placed 372 00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:32.460 Leonard Reed was quite the opposite. As soon as someone appeared at the always-open door, he got up, greeted his visitor, and made him feel at ease. Always working on an article or writing a new book, Reed found time to talk to everyone. 373 00:38:32.460 --> 00:38:55.460 Aggie, Leonard's wife, was one of the most charming women I ever met. She was so delicate and lovely, so full of gaiety and laughter. Everybody loved her, even women. Never did Lew and I leave Fee without a big bunch of flowers she secretly put into our car. She died of cancer in 1974, and Leonard, after that, tried to work even harder than before. 374 00:38:55.460 --> 00:39:01.460 One of the regular tasks of the Foundation was to arrange seminars for teachers, journalists, and students. 375 00:39:01.460 --> 00:39:09.460 Lew enjoyed speaking there. He knew that the participants were carefully questioned about their education and interests, and were eager to hear him. 376 00:39:09.460 --> 00:39:13.460 It was interesting to note how many women attended these seminars. 377 00:39:13.460 --> 00:39:17.460 Before the classes started, Lew regularly made the rounds. 378 00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:24.460 First he had a little talk with Reed, then he went to see Edmund O'Pietz, for whom he had a special appreciation. 379 00:39:24.460 --> 00:39:30.020 Education. Then he visited with W. Marshall Curtis and Paul Poirot. Paul usually had to 380 00:39:30.020 --> 00:39:35.820 discuss an article that he was about to publish in The Free Man, Fee's monthly magazine. Finally, 381 00:39:35.820 --> 00:39:40.940 Lew went into Bettina Bien's office. As a rule, Bettina had a pile of his books ready 382 00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:45.980 for him to autograph, or letters to sign, which were typed for him in her office. On 383 00:39:45.980 --> 00:39:50.460 his way down to the lecture hall, all these offices, with the exception of that of Dr. 384 00:39:50.460 --> 00:40:12.460 His lectures were calculated for a special Irvington audience. He was able to evaluate his listeners immediately by asking one or the other question. He counted on people who had read planned chaos and omnipotent government, but who had to be led up the road to human action. 385 00:40:12.460 --> 00:40:19.460 Though the content of his lectures in Irvington was lighter, his mode of delivery was the same as at New York University. 386 00:40:19.460 --> 00:40:26.460 The interest was great and so was the demand for Lew's books, which Leonard Reed always kept in print and ready for distribution. 387 00:40:26.460 --> 00:40:33.460 For thirty years, Lew complained about the lack of a really good, serious, truthful libertarian magazine. 388 00:40:33.460 --> 00:40:46.460 He always hoped that someone would bring together the people and the money to create a libertarian weekly or fortnightly, which he thought so necessary for the country. This was the dream and the greatest aspiration of his life. 389 00:40:46.460 --> 00:41:00.460 Plain Talk, published by Isaac Don Levine, had folded. That magazine, and later The Freeman, financed by J. Howard Pugh and edited by Henry Hazlitt, came nearest to Lou's conception of a libertarian journal. 390 00:41:00.460 --> 00:41:17.460 Isaac Don Levine, Russian-born, often joined our circle. He and Lew had more than one thing in common. Through education and experience, they both had a full understanding of Russian policies, and Lew, to the last year of his life, warned everyone to watch the communist doctrines. 391 00:41:17.460 --> 00:41:21.220 In 1949, Don Levine wrote these warning words. 392 00:41:21.220 --> 00:41:26.500 The premises for a constructive foreign policy are not subject to discovery by any advisory 393 00:41:26.500 --> 00:41:27.500 board. 394 00:41:27.500 --> 00:41:28.980 They are time-tested and well-known. 395 00:41:28.980 --> 00:41:34.100 First, you must know your enemy and gauge the range of his operations. 396 00:41:34.100 --> 00:41:37.740 In the present instance, that range is global. 397 00:41:37.740 --> 00:41:43.460 Europe and Asia, the North and the South Poles are all on America's first line of defense. 398 00:41:43.460 --> 00:41:47.460 Mind you, this was written in 1949. 399 00:41:47.460 --> 00:41:53.460 Lew's contract with New York University was renewed through the years until 1949. 400 00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:57.460 Mises brought his compensation to $2,000. 401 00:41:57.460 --> 00:42:04.460 In 1947, we spent a few days in the Catskills, where Lew persuaded me to start writing a film script. 402 00:42:04.460 --> 00:42:07.460 He gave me the idea, but I did not like it very much. 403 00:42:07.460 --> 00:42:12.460 It had an historical subject, the Hessians, and from my feeling it was too dry. 404 00:42:12.460 --> 00:42:18.460 But we finished it in one of the following country summers. It is still hidden somewhere in one of my drawers. 405 00:42:18.460 --> 00:42:23.460 One morning on our way back to New York, I saw that Lew was especially tense while driving. 406 00:42:23.460 --> 00:42:29.460 As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, he was never a good driver, and I never felt safe with him. 407 00:42:29.460 --> 00:42:32.460 I offered to take the wheel, but he would not let me. 408 00:42:32.460 --> 00:42:38.460 Half an hour later, near Sagartese, when he saw a truck coming toward us, he lost control of the car. 409 00:42:38.460 --> 00:43:01.460 We crashed into a tree. I was thrown out of the car after my head had gone through the windshield. For a moment I was unconscious. Lew was apparently unharmed. In no time a doctor was there, giving me an injection. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Sagrates. I remember the first words I spoke to Lew as the doctor took care of me. I'll never drive with you again. 410 00:43:01.460 --> 00:43:31.460 My cheekbone was broken. I was operated on, and when I was brought to my room, Lew was sitting quietly next to the bed. He was terribly pale and did not move. When he got up, I noticed the difficulties it caused him. I asked him whether anything was wrong, but he brushed my questions aside. I was almost certain that something had happened to him, and I asked the doctor to examine him. We discovered that Lew had broken five ribs. He must have suffered terrible pains, but he would not say a word, and as usual, 411 00:43:31.460 --> 00:43:44.460 I kept my word. I did not ride with him again. He often asked me to let him drive. I told him he would have to drive alone, and as he never liked to drive alone, he had to give it up. 412 00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:55.460 I was rather depressed the first few weeks after the accident. I had a big scar on my face. The car was smashed and would never be safe again, even if we had it thoroughly repaired. 413 00:43:55.460 --> 00:44:05.460 Margot, you and Lew need a car. I don't want you to drive a car that is not absolutely safe. There is a tempest waiting for you at the Pontiac Garage. See whether you like it. It's yours. 414 00:44:05.460 --> 00:44:13.460 How well he understood Lew. He wanted to help him overcome his self-reproaches and lift me out of my blues. 415 00:44:13.460 --> 00:44:20.340 Lu. He wanted to help him overcome his self-reproaches and lift me out of my blues. It took me quite 416 00:44:20.340 --> 00:44:26.420 a while until I had fought my fear and could drive again. The car gave me tremendous pleasure. 417 00:44:26.420 --> 00:44:31.020 Every Sunday we went into the country, usually taking some friends along. Until they left 418 00:44:31.020 --> 00:44:36.460 New York to live in Switzerland, Dr. and Mrs. Rudy Klein often came with us. Rudy had been 419 00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:41.940 a student of Lu's in Vienna. He and his wife, Lilo, who lived in our neighborhood, were 420 00:44:41.940 --> 00:44:46.780 were good companions and close friends of ours, and loved hiking as much as we did. 421 00:44:46.780 --> 00:44:52.060 Rudy had a wonderful memory, and he remembered conversations with Lou decades earlier. Once 422 00:44:52.060 --> 00:44:57.460 he reminded me of an afternoon shortly after America had entered the war in 1941, when 423 00:44:57.460 --> 00:45:03.020 he and Lilo had tea with us in our apartment. Another guest was the son of the famous Italian 424 00:45:03.020 --> 00:45:08.740 economist Luigi Ainaudi. The younger Ainaudi was greatly worried about the fate of his 425 00:45:08.740 --> 00:45:11.740 and his native country under German mastery. 426 00:45:11.740 --> 00:45:13.740 Lew tried to encourage him, saying, 427 00:45:13.740 --> 00:45:16.740 The Germans will not win the war, Italy will rise again, 428 00:45:16.740 --> 00:45:19.740 but England will become one of the poorest nations in Europe. 429 00:45:19.740 --> 00:45:22.740 Perhaps the day will come when we will see your father 430 00:45:22.740 --> 00:45:25.740 as the president of the Italian Republic. 431 00:45:25.740 --> 00:45:28.740 Twenty years later, Lew's prophecies came true. 432 00:45:28.740 --> 00:45:30.740 Klein told me of another episode, 433 00:45:30.740 --> 00:45:33.740 which happened at the time Nixon was first elected president. 434 00:45:33.740 --> 00:45:37.740 Rudi told Lew he could see a ray of hope in Nixon's choice of advisors. 435 00:45:37.740 --> 00:45:51.740 It is not sufficient that the advisors understand the economic problems. The head of the government must understand them himself, otherwise he won't be willing to die for his ideas. Nobody dies for the ideas of his advisors. 436 00:45:51.740 --> 00:45:58.980 Nilo and Rudi Klein were the last friends to see us in 1973 when we were in St. Mattes, 437 00:45:58.980 --> 00:46:04.100 the health resort above Lucerne. Twice they traveled 6 hours a day to be with us for only 438 00:46:04.100 --> 00:46:08.100 a few hours. They were and still are very good friends.