Philip Johnson was a pedigreed, witty charmer from Cleveland who became a fixture of Manhattan’s art world and social circuit. But before Johnson’s rise to fame as one of America’s most influential architects, he delighted in another rise—that of Hitler and the Third Reich. In his forthcoming book, 1941: Fighting the Shadow War, Marc Wortman explores the architect’s fascination with Nazism.

A Nazi rally in Bückeberg, Germany, 1937. Inset, Philip Johnson, 1933.
A Nazi rally in Bückeberg, Germany, 1937. Inset, Philip Johnson, 1933. © Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. Inset from the Library of Congress.

.... in 1978, the journalist and critic Robert Hughes interviewed Hitler’s architect, Albert Speer, who had spent 20 years in prison for his crimes. Hughes described the meeting in an article in The Guardian in 2003—he had just come across a lost tape recording of the conversation. He wrote:

Suppose a new Führer were to appear tomorrow. Perhaps he would need a state architect? You, Herr Speer, are too old for the job. Whom would you pick? “Well,” Speer said with a half-smile, “I hope Philip Johnson will not mind if I mention his name. Johnson understands what the small man thinks of as grandeur. The fine materials, the size of the space.”

Speer then asked Hughes to bring Johnson an inscribed copy of his book on architecture, which Hughes duly presented to him at the Four Seasons—much to the architect’s horror. Hughes did not seem to know anything about Johnson’s Fascist past—he makes no reference to it at all. He reports that Johnson said, “You haven’t shown this to anyone?” And when assured that Hughes had not, he added, “Thank heavens for small mercies.” Hughes read no particular meaning into this comment. His account of the episode suggests amusement. But Johnson’s reaction comes across as alarm.

The last thing Johnson needed was chatter about his buried Nazi history. Johnson always wanted to be on the winning side. The Thousand-Year Reich was not to be, but so far the American century had been turning out just fine.