James Burns wrote two books on Roosevelt.

The second volume, "Soldier of Freedom

," a study of FDRs stewardship of the country through World War II, won both the Pu
litzer Prize for history in 1971 and the National Book Award.
Lynn Bassanesse, the director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in
Hyde Park, N.Y., said the historical site has lost a "wonderful friend.
James MacGregor Burns
James MacGregor Burns (Eagle File Photo)
"
"James MacGregor Burns was the pre-eminent historian of Franklin Delano Roosevel
t and a dear friend to the Roosevelt library," Bassanese said. "His work will co
ntinue his wonderful legacy, but he will definitely be missed."
Burns was a frequent visitor to the Roosevelt Library and Museum.
"He was a dear man, as nice as he could be," Bassanesse said. "He always took th
e time for anyone who approached him to talk with them."
Burns wrote the first biography of Kennedy, "Kennedy: A Political Profile," in 1
960. Kennedy campaigned for Burns when he ran for Congress in 1958.
Burns specialized in political science at Williams, where he was editor of the s
chool newspaper, the Williams Record, and headed the Garfield Club, where non-fr
aternity students ate and lived.
After working in a congressional office, Burns began his doctoral work at Harvar
d in 1940. He married his first wife, Janet Thompson, in May 1942 following her
graduation from Radcliffe College. The couple raised four children, David, Stewa
rt, Deborah and Mecca Antonia Burns. During World War II, Burns served as a comb
at historian in the Pacific. He left the U.S. Army in late 1945, and received hi
s doctorate from Harvard two years later.
As a member of the Williams faculty, Burns twice chaired the colleges political sci
ence department. He was a pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of leadership s
tudies, which was launched by the publication of his book "Leadership" in 1978,
and co-founded the International Leadership Association. Burns co-authored many
editions of the widely used political science textbook, "Government by the Peopl
e."
The longtime Williams College professor helped coin two adjectives now common in
politics: "transformational" leaders, or those with a vision to change the worl
d, and "transactional" leaders, those with the cunning to get things done.
The words were used constantly during the 2008 presidential race, with the "tran
sactional" Hillary Rodham Clinton battling the "transformational" Barack Obama f
or the Democratic nomination.
An informal adviser to many presidents, Burns was a liberal Democrat.
When he ran for Congress he was defeated by Pittsfield Republican Silvio O. Cont
e. It was the first victory for Conte who held the seat for 16 terms until his d
eath in 1991.
In the Democratic primary, Burns defeated fellow Democrat William Stapleton of H
olyoke, who had tried to smear Burns by calling him a "communist" and an "atheis
t," Stewart Burns said.
"My father had done such good groundwork that apparently he realized the only wa
y he could beat him was through McCarthyism," Stewart Burns said.
"Even though it was 1958 and people thought McCarthyism was stronger earlier in
the decade it was still strong later in the decade," Stewart Burns said. "Any re
ference to it could be very damaging."
Burns traveled to the Soviet Union in 1957 where he was arrested in Leningrad af
ter photographing a group of street urchins. He was detained briefly in a politi
cal prison before being released.
"He went [to the Soviet Union] partly to show his foreign policy credentials," S
tewart Burns said, "and that came back to haunt him."