Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Louis Halle, 1952-1997, Accession #10603-r, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the University of Virginia Library by Louis J. Halle, Geneva, Switzerland, through the office of Kenneth Thompson, Miller Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 10, 1997.

Biographical/Historical Information

Louis Joseph Halle (1910- ), is a political scientist, editor, and professor of foreign affairs and international relations.

Scope and Content Information

This addition to the papers of Louis Joseph Halle (1910- ), consists of ca. 270 items (1 Hollinger box), ca. 1952-1997, chiefly the correspondence of Halle and Kenneth Thompson, Miller Center, University of Virginia concerning international relations and attempts to publish more of Halle's writing, but also including copies of correspondence with Dean Rusk, and several typescripts of Halle's work. There is also correspondence with Ruth K. Hapgood mixed in with that of Thompson concerning their attempts to get Halle's essays and articles published in a single volume.

Those writings by Halle individually foldered include: "Food for Thought," "Notes of Meetings of the Policy Planning Staff" (consisting solely of drawings and doodles made at the meetings), and "The Object of and the Approaches to the Study of International Relations." Other writings by Halle foldered together include: "The Evolution of World Politics," "Failures of Peace-Making," "A Personal Note on the Mechanics of Writing," and "Shylock and the Merchant of Venice." For the essays "My Life with Franklin D. Roosevelt" (1995 Apr 27), "Lessons from Childhood Deterrence versus Battle" (1996 Jul 19), "Telemachus, Friend" (1996 Jul 27), and "On Understanding Politics" (1995 Apr 28) see the correspondence with Kenneth Thompson.

Topics in the correspondence with Kenneth Thompson, 1986-1997, include: inaccurate predictions of the nature of various wars during the 20th century and the development of strategic studies (1988 Feb 3 and attached); "neorealism" (1988 Jun 10, Aug 11, Sep 18 and see "Evolution of World Politics" in writings folder); President George Bush and foreign policy (1989 Apr 13); Cold War as History (1990 Apr 30; 1991 Jan 11, Oct 12; 1994 Aug 29, Oct 31; 1995 Dec 19-20; 1996 Jun 13); Neils Bohr as a political advisor (1991 Dec 2); the administration of Bill Clinton and foreign policy (1994 Mar 30, Apr 19); Haiti (1994 Apr 19); teaching academics by indoctrination (1995 Mar 30); the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Louis and Barbara Halle (1996 Mar 20); a post card from Charlton Ogburn (1996 Apr 27); Oswald Spengler (1996 May 1, Oct 6); intellectual trends in international relations (1996 Jun 13); a letter from Herb Bailey (1996 Jul 7); importance of deterrence (1996 Jul 19); the invention of radio (1996 Jul 28), a letter from George Kennan and his reactions to Halle's book of essays The Elements of World Order: Essays on International Politics (1996 Nov 3), the role of nuclear weapons (1996 Nov 25), and a review of The Elements of World Order: Essays on International Politics by Keith Krause (1997 Mar).

Topics in the copies of the correspondence of Halle with Dean Rusk include: Vietnam and communism (1966 Jul 27; Aug 26; Dec 9; 1967 Sep 1 & 9); relationship between NATO and the Marshall Plan (1980 Feb 28); the Soviet Union and nuclear weapons (1984 Mar 12, May 18, Jun 2); and "rogue nations" with nuclear weapons (1984 Jul 5).

Many letters chronicle the attempts of Ruth Hapgood and Kenneth Thompson to publish The Mind's Eye: the Collected Essays of Louis J. Halle , later renamed The Elements of World Order: Essays on International Politics (1994 May 23 through Jun 22, Nov 3, 11, 27, Dec 7, 22; 1995 Feb 14, 21, 28, Mar 11, 22, 25, 26, Apr 1, 15, 20, 29, May 3, 22- 26, Jun 7, 10, 16, 18, Jul 28-29, Aug 5, 15-31, Sep 2, 5, 7, 12, 15, 25, Oct 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 31, Nov 8, 13, 23; 1996 Apr 2, 17). Many of their subsequent letters deal with trying to get the book reviewed and into the hands of book sellers overseas.