Menzies and Howard on themselves: Liberal memoir, memory and myth making

Authors

Zachary Gorman, University of WollongongFollow
Gregory C. Melleuish, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

125089

Publication Details

Gorman, Z. & Melleuish, G. (2018). Menzies and Howard on themselves: Liberal memoir, memory and myth making. History Australia, 15 (1), 7-22.

Abstract

This article compares the memoirs of Sir Robert Menzies and John Howard, as well as Howard's book on Menzies, examining what these works by the two most successful Liberal prime ministers indicate about the evolution of the Liberal Party's liberalism. Howard's memoirs are far more 'political', candid and ideologically engaged than those of Menzies. Howard acknowledges that politics is about political power and winning it, while Menzies was more concerned with the political leader as statesman. Howard's works can be viewed as a continuation of the 'history wars'. He wishes to create a Liberal tradition to match that of the Labor Party.

Grant Number

ARC/DP140100246