ext_99260 ([identity profile] tool-of-satan.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] rachelmanija 2010-08-20 10:08 pm (UTC)

I haven't read it, but I thought it only went up through 1940 or so.

I think everyone agrees that Leslyn and Virginia had very different political opinions. My question is, what was going on in Heinlein's head?

Brad DeLong quoted Asimov on the subject the other day, and I am going to steal his quote because I'm too lazy to go find the original:

"Furthermore, although a flaming liberal during the war, Heinlein became a rock-ribbed far-right conservative immediately afterward... at just the time he changed wives from a liberal woman, Leslyn, to a rock-ribbed far-right conservative woman, Virginia.

Ronald Reagan did the same when he switched wives from the liberal Jane Wyman to the ultraconservative Nancy, but Ronald Reagan I have always viewed as a brainless fellow.... I can't explain Heinlein in that way at all, for I cannot believe he would follow his wives' opinions blindly. I used to brood about it in puzzlement.... I did come to one conclusion. I would never marry anyone who did not generally agree with my political, social, and philosophical view of life.... I would certainly not change my own views just for the sake of peace in the households, and I would not want a woman so feeble in her opinions that she would do so...."

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