Advise and Consent
Encyclopedia
Advise and Consent is a 1959 political novel
by Allen Drury
that explores the United States Senate
confirmation of controversial Secretary of State nominee Robert Leffingwell who is a former member of the Communist Party
. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
in 1960 and was followed by Drury's A Shade of Difference
in 1962 and four additional sequel
s.
's Article II, Sec. 2, cl. 2, which provides that the President of the United States "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consults, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States...."
Allen Drury was a conservative and anti-Communist, and these views permeate his fiction. He believed most liberals were naive about the dangers of the Communist threat to undermine the government of the United States:
The story of Brigham Anderson's homosexual love affair, its exposure, and his suicide, was based on a real political episode. In 1954, Senators Styles Bridges
and Herman Welker
threatened to publicize a homosexual scandal in Senator Lester Hunt
's family if he did not resign from the Senate. Senator Hunt killed himself.
Anderson is a Mormon
and has a wife and child. While in Hawaii on R&R late in World War II, he had a month-long love affair with another man. Anderson has been struggling with his homosexual orientation throughout his life. His maid, cleaning out is attic, gives him a picture of the two men taken in Hawaii in a sealed and forgotten envelope. Anderson's wife Mabel has occasionally complained that she does not feel loved in their marriage. While driving to the Capitol, he picks up Associate Supreme Court Justice Davis, a supporter of Leffingwell's nomination. As Anderson drops Davis off at the Supreme Court, the envelope with the picture falls from the car. Davis finds it and, unable to bring himself to use the evidence, delivers it to Munson, who scolds Davis for suggesting blackmail but keeps the photograph.
The next evening at the White House, the President learns that Anderson knows Leffingwell was in a Communist cell with Morton. The President decides to get James Morton out of town and proceed with the nomination. Anderson vehemently objects, stating that the honorable thing to do is to withdraw the nomination. Anderson leaves. The President, alerted earlier by Davis to the existence of the photo, takes it from a reluctant Munson and gives it to Senator Van Ackerman, an enemy of Anderson. Van Ackerman and his allies begin a whispering campaign about Anderson. Confronted by his wife, Anderson admits his homosexual past. She reacts badly, leaving Anderson feeling more alone than ever. He receives a phone call from the man with whom he had the affair, who admits that he sold his story to someone because he needed the money.
The next morning, the editor of the Washington Post visits Anderson with a copy of a column detailing the affair. The editor tears it up in front of Anderson, saying that no Washington newspaper will publish it, but warns that someone else will publish it soon. That afternoon, feeling trapped and alone, Anderson decides there is only one way to maintain his honor and dignity. He writes a letter to his best friend and mentor, Senator Orrin Knox, explains what has happened, returns to his office in the Senate Office Building, and shoots himself in the head. Senator Anderson's death turns the majority of the Senate against the President and the Majority Leader. Senator Knox becomes the de facto leader of the opposition, and vows to defeat the Leffingwell nomination. The Senate unanimously censures Van Ackerman for contributing to Senator Anderson's death.
Senator Munson makes a speech linking Anderson's death to the Leffingwell nomination and resigns as majority leader. The President summons Knox, a two-time presidential candidate, to the White House and promises to back him for the party's nomination next year if he will allow the Leffingwell nomination to go through. Knox dares him to put this promise in writing, and the President does. The President also tells Knox that the Soviets have just launched a manned mission to the moon and that he needs a Secretary of State who can deal with the Soviets. Knox discusses the President's promise of support with his colleagues and his wife, but decides to oppose the Leffingwell nomination. The Soviet cosmonauts address the world via radio and claim the moon for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Premier then invites the President to Geneva for a summit meeting. The U.S. launches its own moon mission and the President gives a speech asserting that no one owns the moon. Despite his misgivings, he will meet the Soviet leader in Geneva. The Senate votes on the Leffingwell nomination and defeats it by a vote of 74-24. Following the vote, the President dies of a heart attack and Vice President Hudson becomes President.
President Hudson addresses a joint session of Congress after the late President's funeral, saying he will not be a candidate for his party's nomination next year, that he will honor the late President's promise to go to Geneva, and that he will nominate Orrin Knox as Secretary of State. Knox is promptly confirmed, and President Hudson leaves for Switzerland.
wrote in 1999 that the novel "in many ways invented a genre in fiction…. The use of a racy intrigue, if possible involving both sex and foreign policy, is what characterizes the contemporary form. Forty years on, Advise and Consent is the only book of this genre that a literary-minded person really ought to read."
In 1960, the Pulitzer Prize
committee recommended that the award for fiction be given to Saul Bellow
's Henderson the Rain King
. The board overrode their recommendation and awarded it to Advise and Consent. Advise and Consent was the last book (as of 2011) to win the Fiction award and also be the bestselling novel that same year.
The novel was adapted into the 1962 film Advise and Consent
, directed by Otto Preminger
and starring Walter Pidgeon
and Henry Fonda
. Preminger was nominated for a Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
, and Burgess Meredith
won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor for his role. Charles Laughton
was also nominated for a British Academy Film Award
for Best Foreign Actor.
Political fiction
Political fiction is a subgenre of fiction that deals with political affairs. Political fiction has often used narrative to provide commentary on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction often "directly criticize an existing society or.....
by Allen Drury
Allen Drury
Allen Stuart Drury was a U.S. novelist. He wrote the 1959 novel Advise and Consent, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960.- Early life & ancestry :...
that explores the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
confirmation of controversial Secretary of State nominee Robert Leffingwell who is a former member of the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
in 1960 and was followed by Drury's A Shade of Difference
A Shade of Difference
A Shade of Difference is a 1962 political novel written by Allen Drury. It is the first sequel to Advise and Consent, for which Drury was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960, and is followed by Capable of Honor....
in 1962 and four additional sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s.
Background
The novel's title comes from the United States ConstitutionUnited States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
's Article II, Sec. 2, cl. 2, which provides that the President of the United States "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consults, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States...."
Allen Drury was a conservative and anti-Communist, and these views permeate his fiction. He believed most liberals were naive about the dangers of the Communist threat to undermine the government of the United States:
The story of Brigham Anderson's homosexual love affair, its exposure, and his suicide, was based on a real political episode. In 1954, Senators Styles Bridges
Styles Bridges
Henry Styles Bridges was an American teacher, editor, and Republican Party politician from Concord, New Hampshire. He served one term as 63rd Governor of New Hampshire before a twenty-four year career in the United States Senate.Bridges was born in West Pembroke, Maine. He attended the public...
and Herman Welker
Herman Welker
Herman Welker was a politician from the state of Idaho. He was a member of the Idaho Republican Party.Welker was born in Cambridge, Idaho. He was the youngest of seven children of John and Zelda Welker, who had moved from North Carolina and started a potato farm. He is the grandson of of North...
threatened to publicize a homosexual scandal in Senator Lester Hunt
Lester C. Hunt
Lester Callaway Hunt was a Democratic politician and dentist from the state of Wyoming. He served as the 19th Governor of Wyoming from 1943 to 1949 and as United States Senator from January 3, 1949 until his suicide on June 19, 1954....
's family if he did not resign from the Senate. Senator Hunt killed himself.
Plot summary
A U.S. President names a new Secretary of State to promote rapprochement with the U.S.S.R. Nominee Robert Leffingwell, the darling of the liberals, is viewed by many conservative senators as an appeaser. Others have doubts about his character. The nomination proceeds smoothly until a minor bureaucrat named Gelman tells the subcommittee handling the confirmation nomination that he and Leffingwell were in a Communist cell when in college along with James Morton.The subcommittee deems Gelman's testimony far-fetched, and the chairman, Senator Anderson, is about to send the nomination to the full Foreign Relations Committee when a member of the President's staff calls Anderson to tell him that he once was known as "James Morton". Anderson holds open his subcommittee hearings, which enrages the President. The President orders Majority Leader Munson to get Anderson to move the nomination by enticement or threat. Munson cannot find a way to threaten Anderson.Anderson is a Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
and has a wife and child. While in Hawaii on R&R late in World War II, he had a month-long love affair with another man. Anderson has been struggling with his homosexual orientation throughout his life. His maid, cleaning out is attic, gives him a picture of the two men taken in Hawaii in a sealed and forgotten envelope. Anderson's wife Mabel has occasionally complained that she does not feel loved in their marriage. While driving to the Capitol, he picks up Associate Supreme Court Justice Davis, a supporter of Leffingwell's nomination. As Anderson drops Davis off at the Supreme Court, the envelope with the picture falls from the car. Davis finds it and, unable to bring himself to use the evidence, delivers it to Munson, who scolds Davis for suggesting blackmail but keeps the photograph.
The next evening at the White House, the President learns that Anderson knows Leffingwell was in a Communist cell with Morton. The President decides to get James Morton out of town and proceed with the nomination. Anderson vehemently objects, stating that the honorable thing to do is to withdraw the nomination. Anderson leaves. The President, alerted earlier by Davis to the existence of the photo, takes it from a reluctant Munson and gives it to Senator Van Ackerman, an enemy of Anderson. Van Ackerman and his allies begin a whispering campaign about Anderson. Confronted by his wife, Anderson admits his homosexual past. She reacts badly, leaving Anderson feeling more alone than ever. He receives a phone call from the man with whom he had the affair, who admits that he sold his story to someone because he needed the money.
The next morning, the editor of the Washington Post visits Anderson with a copy of a column detailing the affair. The editor tears it up in front of Anderson, saying that no Washington newspaper will publish it, but warns that someone else will publish it soon. That afternoon, feeling trapped and alone, Anderson decides there is only one way to maintain his honor and dignity. He writes a letter to his best friend and mentor, Senator Orrin Knox, explains what has happened, returns to his office in the Senate Office Building, and shoots himself in the head. Senator Anderson's death turns the majority of the Senate against the President and the Majority Leader. Senator Knox becomes the de facto leader of the opposition, and vows to defeat the Leffingwell nomination. The Senate unanimously censures Van Ackerman for contributing to Senator Anderson's death.
Senator Munson makes a speech linking Anderson's death to the Leffingwell nomination and resigns as majority leader. The President summons Knox, a two-time presidential candidate, to the White House and promises to back him for the party's nomination next year if he will allow the Leffingwell nomination to go through. Knox dares him to put this promise in writing, and the President does. The President also tells Knox that the Soviets have just launched a manned mission to the moon and that he needs a Secretary of State who can deal with the Soviets. Knox discusses the President's promise of support with his colleagues and his wife, but decides to oppose the Leffingwell nomination. The Soviet cosmonauts address the world via radio and claim the moon for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Premier then invites the President to Geneva for a summit meeting. The U.S. launches its own moon mission and the President gives a speech asserting that no one owns the moon. Despite his misgivings, he will meet the Soviet leader in Geneva. The Senate votes on the Leffingwell nomination and defeats it by a vote of 74-24. Following the vote, the President dies of a heart attack and Vice President Hudson becomes President.
President Hudson addresses a joint session of Congress after the late President's funeral, saying he will not be a candidate for his party's nomination next year, that he will honor the late President's promise to go to Geneva, and that he will nominate Orrin Knox as Secretary of State. Knox is promptly confirmed, and President Hudson leaves for Switzerland.
Reception
Saturday Review said of Advise and Consent in August 1959 that "It may be a long time before a better one comes along." Roger Kaplan of Policy ReviewPolicy Review
Policy Review is one of America's leading conservative journals. It was founded by the Heritage Foundation and was for many years the foundation's flagship publication. In 2001, the publication was acquired by the Stanford University-based Hoover Institution, though it maintains its office on...
wrote in 1999 that the novel "in many ways invented a genre in fiction…. The use of a racy intrigue, if possible involving both sex and foreign policy, is what characterizes the contemporary form. Forty years on, Advise and Consent is the only book of this genre that a literary-minded person really ought to read."
In 1960, the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
committee recommended that the award for fiction be given to Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
's Henderson the Rain King
Henderson the Rain King
Henderson the Rain King is a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow. The book's blend of philosophical discourse and comic adventure has helped make it one of his most enduringly popular works.It is said to be Bellow's own favorite amongst his books....
. The board overrode their recommendation and awarded it to Advise and Consent. Advise and Consent was the last book (as of 2011) to win the Fiction award and also be the bestselling novel that same year.
The novel was adapted into the 1962 film Advise and Consent
Advise and Consent (film)
Advise & Consent is a 1962 American motion picture based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Allen Drury, published in 1959. The movie was adapted for the screen by Wendell Mayes and was directed by Otto Preminger...
, directed by Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
and starring Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
and Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
. Preminger was nominated for a Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, and Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor for his role. Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
was also nominated for a British Academy Film Award
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
for Best Foreign Actor.