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{{cquote|[There were] three distinct stages in the political thought of the American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Disenchantment with politics in early boyhood to the 1930's; Interest in [[communism]]; Mature understanding of politics; Disillusion of [[liberal]]s with internationalism ....<ref>http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/literary-criticism/9512143538/political-f-scott-fitzgerald-liberal-illusion-disillusion-in-this-side-paradise</ref>}}

{{cquote|[There were] three distinct stages in the political thought of the American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Disenchantment with politics in early boyhood to the 1930's; Interest in [[communism]]; Mature understanding of politics; Disillusion of [[liberal]]s with internationalism ....<ref>http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/literary-criticism/9512143538/political-f-scott-fitzgerald-liberal-illusion-disillusion-in-this-side-paradise</ref>}}

==Early life==

==Early life==

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 25, 1896 in [[Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]], the son of an aristocrat who believed in the code of the Southern gentleman, and a "straight 1850 potato-famine Irish" middle-class mother, as he would later put it.  His father named him after a distant relative, the [[Francis Scott Key|author]] of the [[Star Spangled Banner]].  The mix of an unsuccessful father and an energetic mother would cause young F. Scott to grow up with mixed feelings about America, looking at the country as very promising, yet coming up short. He lived in many ordinary homes in Saint Paul which are remarkably well-preserved today.<ref>http://www.fitzgeraldinsaintpaul.org/a-selection-of-saint-paul-sites-of-f-scott-fitzgerald</ref>

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 25, 1896 in [[Saint Paul]], [[Minnesota]], the son of an aristocrat who believed in the code of the Southern gentleman, and a "straight 1850 potato-famine Irish" middle-class mother, as he would later put it.  His father named him after a distant relative, the [[Francis Scott Key|author]] of the [[Star Spangled Banner]].  The mix of an unsuccessful father whom F. Scott admired<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/26402961?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents</ref> (his father Edward lost his job as a salesman when F. Scott was 12 years old) and an energetic mother would cause young F. Scott to grow up with mixed feelings about America, looking at the country as very promising, yet coming up short. He lived in many ordinary homes in Saint Paul which are remarkably well-preserved today.<ref>http://www.fitzgeraldinsaintpaul.org/a-selection-of-saint-paul-sites-of-f-scott-fitzgerald</ref>

He had what he called "a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" - he was a romantic - but his attempts to succeed were at best poor; the time spent at St. Paul Academy (1908–10) and Newman School (1911-13) made him unpopular.  From Minnesota, Fitzgerald succeeded in being accepted at [[Princeton University]] where he came closest to realizing his dreams, becoming the center of literary circles, writing and producing (as well as acting) plays, and leading the Triangle Club; he would also meet and befriend the literary critic Edmund Wilson.  It was at Princeton that he also met his first real love, Ginevra King; she would be identified as the character "Judy Jones" in his 1922 short, ''Winter Dreams''.  But, as in high school, his academic performance was poor; he was put on probation in 1916, and to make things worse was sent home due to a bout with malaria.  Returning the following year he discovered the social positions he had coveted were gone and his class work was unacceptable.  Also, his girlfriend Genevra, who was not at Princeton (it did not admit women at that time), had left him.  November, 1917 had him leaving Princeton for the Army, where he managed to get a commission as a second lieutenant.  Taking to drink, he began to grow despondent, expressing his despondency in his novels.   

He had what he called "a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" - he was a romantic - but his attempts to succeed were at best poor; the time spent at St. Paul Academy (1908–10) and Newman School (1911-13) made him unpopular.  From Minnesota, Fitzgerald succeeded in being accepted at [[Princeton University]] where he came closest to realizing his dreams, becoming the center of literary circles, writing and producing (as well as acting) plays, and leading the Triangle Club; he would also meet and befriend the literary critic Edmund Wilson.  It was at Princeton that he also met his first real love, Ginevra King; she would be identified as the character "Judy Jones" in his 1922 short, ''Winter Dreams''.  But, as in high school, his academic performance was poor; he was put on probation in 1916, and to make things worse was sent home due to a bout with malaria.  Returning the following year he discovered the social positions he had coveted were gone and his class work was unacceptable.  Also, his girlfriend Genevra, who was not at Princeton (it did not admit women at that time), had left him.  November, 1917 had him leaving Princeton for the Army, where he managed to get a commission as a second lieutenant.  Taking to drink, he began to grow despondent, expressing his despondency in his novels.