Name/Title
Oral History of Alan CranstonEntry/Object ID
2002.064.001TScope and Content
As a child, he went to Los Altos Grammar School and then Mountain View High School. Cranston attended Stanford University for his English degree. Cranston moved to Los Altos with his parents when he was a small child in 1915. As an adult, he moved back to Los Altos after leaving the Senate. Cranston created national parks to preserve parts of the wilderness for future generations, specifically mentioning the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Senator Alan Cranston started out as a journalist before going into politics, as he realized he would rather directly take action than spend much of his life writing about the deeds of terrible people. He aimed to end the Vietnam War and strengthen the United Nations. Cranston was a part of The United World Federalists, which was created after World War 2 for the purpose of creating a stronger United Nations and limiting war in the nuclear age.
Cranston published an unauthorized version of Mein Kampf after noticing the American copy was heavily censored to avoid conflict. He released a copy that better reflected the original’s contents, and added footnotes to address and counter the ideas Hitler was using to justify his point.Collection
Oral History CollectionOral History Details
Interviewee
Alan CranstonInterviewer
Erin FinneganInterview Date
1995