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THE EDUCATION OF AYN RAND, 1905–1943
After Mealand made a few phone calls Rand walked her enormous
manuscript, already several hundred pages and slightly more than onefourth
fi nished, over to Bobbs-Merrill. At fi rst she didn’t like the editor
who would appraise her work, Archie Ogden. He had been hired only
a few weeks earlier and was young, overly friendly, and insincere, Rand
thought. Although he seemed to be a glad-hander, Ogden immediately
recognized the potential in Rand’s unfi nished manuscript. He recommended
publication of the book. His immediate supervisor was less
impressed and vetoed the proposal. Fresh from reading Rand’s heady
tribute to individualism, Ogden sent a simple wire in response: “If this
is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you.” 28 It was a bold,
foolhardy, and ultimately brilliant move. Faced with mutiny, Ogden’s
supervisor relented and the press drew up a contract for Rand. She
signed it on December 10, 1941, three days after Japanese forces attacked
Pearl Harbor.
The outbreak of war put an immediate end to Rand’s organizing
efforts. Emery sent Rand an excited letter sharing his intention to join
the armed forces. The president’s critics muzzled themselves as the dangers
of the New Deal paled beside the combined onslaught of Japan
and Germany, which declared war on the United States only days after
Pearl Harbor. Even America First disbanded, signifying the bankruptcy
of isolationism as a political issue. Domestic concerns took a backseat
to foreign affairs, and as the wartime economy shifted into high gear
unemployment plummeted. World War II thrust the United States into
a new international role, forever altering the dynamics of American politics.
By the time the war was over a new set of concerns would structure
the political landscape.
The ink on her contract had barely dried when Rand began writing
again. She had only completed the fi rst of four projected parts of
the novel, entitled “Peter Keating,” and six additional chapters. These
sections served to introduce the major characters and foreshadow
important later plot developments. She had described the early years
of Howard Roark and Peter Keating, laying out their very different
approaches to the world. In the book’s opening scene Roark is expelled
from the architecture school where Keating is about to graduate with
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