Gore Vidal was certainly one of the brightest gay men in history, one of the greatest minds period.
But such magnificent brilliance begs the question can you be too brilliant?
I can't argue with his success in life, he created a wonderful lifestyle for himself. Gorgeous hillside villa in Italy, the best cuisine, impeccable designer wardrobe, museum quality furnishings and decor, all the finest material possessions anyone could dream of.
He had more art masterpieces in his bathroom than I have in my entire home.
But he thought he was so superior to everyone else that it bred a contempt for humanity. In "Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia," Vidal recaps the 1960 election. How his hero John F. Kennedy won the presidency, and at the same time he himself, Gore Vidal, was crushed in his campaign for the House of Representatives from a Republican upstate New York district. He goes on to reflect near the end of his life how much he loved, and still loved JFK, but that his presidency was a complete failure, Camelot had achieved nothing, risked everything with the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I have nowhere near the intellect of Vidal, but is clear for me to see his jealousy of the dead president. Kennedy succeeded, and he failed. Gore could never excite the emotions of the populace. Gore saw himself as a messiah, a successor to JFK himself. So in the end such brilliance destroyed Gore, ate away at his self worth. Had Gore run for office in heavily Democratic New York City perhaps Kennedy's coattails would have been enough to sweep him along to Washington and Camelot. Perhaps he would have wound up in the senate like his grandfather. Gore was so close to power he could touch it, as a young boy he was congressional page to his blind grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore Democrat of Oklahoma. Gore saw himself as the rightful heir to that senate seat, to the presidency, to greatness. Gore carved out for himself his own niche in American history, but that was not enough for his cynical and perhaps malignant mind. He saw what were to him lesser men and women lead the gay and Lesbian movement to victory. He became a spectator while others achieved the glory.
His brilliance was incredible, but his negativity was also gargantuan and perhaps eclipsed the positive.
But he thought he was so superior to everyone else that it bred a contempt for humanity. In "Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia," Vidal recaps the 1960 election. How his hero John F. Kennedy won the presidency, and at the same time he himself, Gore Vidal, was crushed in his campaign for the House of Representatives from a Republican upstate New York district. He goes on to reflect near the end of his life how much he loved, and still loved JFK, but that his presidency was a complete failure, Camelot had achieved nothing, risked everything with the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I have nowhere near the intellect of Vidal, but is clear for me to see his jealousy of the dead president. Kennedy succeeded, and he failed. Gore could never excite the emotions of the populace. Gore saw himself as a messiah, a successor to JFK himself. So in the end such brilliance destroyed Gore, ate away at his self worth. Had Gore run for office in heavily Democratic New York City perhaps Kennedy's coattails would have been enough to sweep him along to Washington and Camelot. Perhaps he would have wound up in the senate like his grandfather. Gore was so close to power he could touch it, as a young boy he was congressional page to his blind grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore Democrat of Oklahoma. Gore saw himself as the rightful heir to that senate seat, to the presidency, to greatness. Gore carved out for himself his own niche in American history, but that was not enough for his cynical and perhaps malignant mind. He saw what were to him lesser men and women lead the gay and Lesbian movement to victory. He became a spectator while others achieved the glory.
His brilliance was incredible, but his negativity was also gargantuan and perhaps eclipsed the positive.