View source for Robert A. Heinlein

{{Short description|American author and aeronautical engineer (1907–1988)}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox author
| image        = Robert A. Heinlein (Doubleday photo).jpg
| caption      = Heinlein {{circa}} 1950
| name         = Robert A. Heinlein
| pseudonym    = {{Plain list|
* Anson MacDonald
* Lyle Monroe
* John Riverside
* Caleb Saunders
* Simon York
}}
| birth_name   = Robert Anson Heinlein
| birth_date   = {{Birth date |mf=yes|1907|7|7}}
| birth_place  = [[Butler, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age |mf=yes|1988|5|8|1907|7|7}}
| death_place  = [[Carmel-by-the-Sea, California]], U.S.
| occupation   = {{Flatlist|
* Author
* aeronautical engineer
* lieutenant USN<ref name = virginia>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-26-me-heinlein26-story.html |title= Virginia Heinlein, 86; Wife, Muse and Literary Guardian of Celebrated Science Fiction Writer |first= Elaine |last= Woo |date= January 26, 2003 |newspaper= Los Angeles Times |access-date= June 25, 2017 |archive-date= November 12, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161112053932/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jan/26/local/me-heinlein26 |url-status= live}} Also reproduced at [https://www.heinleinsociety.org/2003/01/the-passing-of-ginny-heinlein/ The Heinlein Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218190702/https://www.heinleinsociety.org/2003/01/the-passing-of-ginny-heinlein/ |date=December 18, 2019 }}</ref>}}
| alma_mater   = {{Plain list|
* [[United States Naval Academy]]
* [[University of California, Los Angeles]] <small>(incomplete)</small>
}}
| period       = 1939–1988
| genre        = [[Science fiction]], [[fantasy]]
| movement     =
| notableworks = {{Plain list|
* ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]''
* ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''
* ''[[Starship Troopers]]''
* ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''
}}
| signature    = Robert A Heinlein signature.svg
| spouse       = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elinor Curry|1929|1930|end= div}}
* {{marriage|Leslyn MacDonald|1932|1947|end= div}}
* {{marriage |[[Virginia Heinlein|Virginia Gerstenfeld]]|1948}}
}}
}}

'''Robert Anson Heinlein''' ({{IPAc-en |ˈ|h|aɪ|n|l|aɪ|n}} {{respell|HYNE|lyne}};<ref>{{cite book |author-link = John C. Wells| last = Wells | first = John C. |year= 2008 |title= Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |publisher= Longman |edition= 3rd}}</ref><ref name="hine-line_soc">{{cite web | url= http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/FAQrah.html | title= FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Robert A. Heinlein, the person | publisher= The Heinlein Society | year= 2003 | last= Houdek | first= D. A. | access-date= January 23, 2007 | archive-date= April 3, 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120403204313/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/FAQrah.html | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="hine-line">{{cite web | url = https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/organization/standards-guidelines/efgh/#h | title = Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures | publisher = Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) | date = September 21, 2006 | access-date = January 23, 2007 | archive-date = October 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191006214945/https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/organization/standards-guidelines/efgh/#h | url-status = live }}</ref> July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American [[science fiction]] author, [[aeronautical engineer]], and [[officer (armed forces)|naval officer]]. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers",<ref>{{cite book | last1= Booker | last2= Thomas | first2= Anne-Marie | title= The Science Fiction Handbook | series= Blackwell Guides to Literature Series | publisher= John Wiley & Sons | year= 2009 | page= 155 | isbn= 978-1405162050 | first1= M. Keith | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uW9xST9UsOIC | quote= Sometimes called the 'dean of science fiction writers,' Robert A. Heinlein was one of the leading figures of science fiction's Golden Age and one of the authors most responsible for establishing the science fiction novel as a publishing category. | access-date= June 27, 2018 | archive-date= July 5, 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190705122833/https://books.google.com/books?id=uW9xST9UsOIC | url-status= live }}</ref> he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of [[hard science fiction]]. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of [[critical thinking]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Mendlesohn | first = Farah| title = The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein | publisher = Unbound Publishing| location = London | year = 2019 | isbn = 978-1783526789 }}</ref> His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional [[social mores]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/jan/12/heinlein-hugo-stranger-strange-land |title=Robert Heinlein's softer side |date=January 12, 2009 |website=The Guardian |access-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125182954/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/jan/12/heinlein-hugo-stranger-strange-land |url-status=live}}</ref> His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre and on modern culture more generally.

Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'' in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades. Heinlein, [[Isaac Asimov]], and [[Arthur C. Clarke]] are often considered the "Big Three" of [[English-language]] science fiction authors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/the-big-3.php |title=The Big Three—Asimov—Clarke—Heinlein—A Bibliography |publisher=SFandFantasy.co.uk |access-date=August 28, 2016 |quote=Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein are informally known as the 'Big Three'—the best known members of the group of authors who brought science fiction into a Golden Age in the middle years of the twentieth century |archive-date=September 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901081434/http://www.sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/the-big-3.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Parrinder |first=Patrick |title= Learning from Other Worlds: Estrangement, Cognition, and the Politics of Science Fiction and Utopia |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2001 |page=81 |isbn= 978-0822327738 |quote=This short discussion of Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein—the so-called Big Three, who largely dominated American (and, to a lesser extent, Anglo-American) science fiction during the 1940s, the 1950s and well into the 1960s—should serve to suggest the particularly complex affinity between science fiction and critical theory in its Blochian version.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfwriter.com/rmdeatho.htm |title= Science Fiction Writer Robert J. Sawyer: The Death of Science Fiction |website= SF writer |access-date= November 26, 2017 |quote= And yet, the publishers do whatever they can to continue to milk the big three: Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein |archive-date= May 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502235740/http://www.sfwriter.com/rmdeatho.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> Notable Heinlein works include ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url= http://mentalfloss.com/article/64993/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-stranger-strange-land |title= 15 Things You Might Not Know About ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' |date= July 14, 2015 |website= Mental floss |access-date= November 26, 2017 |archive-date= April 14, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170414150236/http://mentalfloss.com/article/64993/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-stranger-strange-land |url-status= live }}</ref> ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' (which helped mold the [[space marine]] and [[mecha]] archetypes) and ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''.<ref name="mises1"/> His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as [[plural marriage]] in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'', [[militarism]] in ''Starship Troopers'' and technologically competent women characters who were formidable,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/books/review/heinleins-female-troubles.html |title=Heinlein's Female Troubles|first=M. G.|last=Lord|date=October 2, 2005|access-date=February 26, 2019|work=The New York Times |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123928/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/books/review/heinleins-female-troubles.html |url-status=live}}</ref> yet often stereotypically feminine—such as ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]''.

Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex.
Within the framework of his stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual [[liberty]] and [[Individualism|self-reliance]], the nature of sexual relationships, the obligations individuals owe to their societies, the influence of [[organized religion]] on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.

Heinlein was heavily influenced by the visionary writers and philosophers of his day. William H. Patterson Jr., writing in ''Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century'', states that by 1930, Heinlein was a progressive liberal who had spent some time in the open sexuality climate of [[New York City|New York]]'s [[Jazz Age]] [[Greenwich Village]]. Heinlein believed that some level of socialism was inevitable and was already occurring in the United States. He was absorbing the social concepts of writers such as [[H. G. Wells]] and [[Upton Sinclair]]. Heinlein adopted many of the progressive social beliefs of his day and projected them forward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patterson |first=William H. Jr. |title=Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century |volume=1 |year= 2010 |publisher=Tor Books |isbn=978-0765319609 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=122–125 |language=en}}</ref> In later years, he began to espouse more moderate views and to believe that a strong [[world government]] was the only way to avoid [[mutual assured destruction|mutual nuclear annihilation]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2010 |title=Heinlein's Conservatism |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2010/10/heinleins-conservatism-martin-morse-wooster/ |access-date=July 13, 2024 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref>

Heinlein was named the first [[SFWA Grand Master|Science Fiction Writers Grand Master]] in 1974.<!-- presented 1975 --><ref name=SFWA/> Four of his novels won [[Hugo Awards]]. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "[[Retro Hugos]]"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence.<ref name= SFAwards /> In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including [[grok]], [[remote manipulator|waldo]] and [[speculative fiction]], as well as popularizing existing terms like "[[There ain't no such thing as a free lunch|TANSTAAFL]]", "[[pay it forward]]", and "[[space marine]]". He also anticipated mechanical [[computer-aided design]] with "Drafting Dan" in his novel ''[[The Door into Summer]]'' and described a modern version of a [[waterbed]] in his novel ''Stranger in a Strange Land''.

==Life==
===Birth, childhood, and early education===
Heinlein, born on July 7, 1907, to Rex Ivar Heinlein (an accountant) and Bam Lyle Heinlein, in [[Butler, Missouri]], was the third of seven children. He was a sixth-generation [[German-American]]; a family tradition had it that Heinleins fought in every American war, starting with the [[American Revolutionary War|War of Independence]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Robert A. Heinlein: 1907–1948, learning curve| last=Patterson |first=William |year= 2010 |publisher= Tom Doherty Associates |location= New York |isbn= 978-0765319609 |chapter= Appendix 2|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Z93OvsN2yq8C&q=heinlein+cronkite&pg=PA13|access-date= June 29, 2014}}</ref>

He spent his childhood in [[Kansas City, Missouri]].<ref name="aolbio">{{cite journal | author= William H. Patterson Jr. |title= Robert A. Heinlein, a Biographical Sketch |journal= The Heinlein Journal |year= 1999 |volume= 1999 |issue= 5 |pages= 7–36 |url= http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm |access-date= March 21, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080321234910/http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm |archive-date= March 21, 2008 |df= mdy-all }} Also available at. Retrieved July 6, 2007.</ref> The outlook and values of this time and place (in his own words, "The [[Bible Belt]]") had an influence on his fiction, especially in his later works, as he drew heavily upon his childhood in establishing the setting and cultural atmosphere in ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' and ''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]''. The 1910 return of [[Halley's Comet]] inspired the young child's life-long interest in astronomy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sci-fi Literature Genius Guide|chapter=3|publisher=Imagine Publishing|year= 2012|isbn= 978-1908222183}}</ref>

In January 1924, the sixteen-year-old Heinlein lied about his age to enlist in Company C, [[110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade|110th Engineer Regiment]], of the [[Missouri National Guard]], in Kansas City. His family could not afford to send Heinlein to college, so he sought an appointment to a military academy.{{r|suplee19840905}} When Heinlein graduated from Kansas City Central High School in 1924, he was initially prevented from attending the [[United States Naval Academy]] at Annapolis because his older brother Rex was a student there, and at the time, regulations discouraged multiple family members from attending the academy simultaneously. He instead matriculated at Kansas City Community College and began vigorously petitioning Missouri Senator [[James A. Reed (politician)|James A. Reed]] for an appointment to the Naval Academy. In part due to the influence of the [[Pendergast machine]], the Naval Academy admitted him in June 1925.<ref name="mises1">{{cite web
|url=https://mises.org/library/was-robert-heinlein-libertarian
|title=Was Robert A. Heinlein a Libertarian?
|date=May 18, 2010
|publisher=Mises Institute
|access-date=May 5, 2017
|archive-date=December 11, 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211005829/https://mises.org/library/was-robert-heinlein-libertarian
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Heinlein received his discharge from the Missouri National Guard as a staff sergeant. Reed later told Heinlein that he had received 100 letters of recommendation for nomination to the Naval Academy, 50 for other candidates and 50 for Heinlein.<ref name="suplee19840905">{{Cite news |last=Suplee |first=Curt |date=September 5, 1984 |title=In the Strange Land Of Robert Heinlein |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/09/05/in-the-strange-land-of-robert-heinlein/b7a2ee22-0a6e-4c29-8fc1-88b3e68ec08c/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

===Navy===
[[File:RAH 1929 Yearbook.png|thumb|left|upright|[[Midshipman]] Heinlein, from the 1929 [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]] [[yearbook]]]]
Heinlein's experience in the [[U.S. Navy]] exerted a strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a [[bachelor of arts]] in engineering.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/luckybag1929unse | title=The Lucky Bag of Nineteen Twenty Nine, The Annual of the Regiment of Midshipmen, Published at The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, by The Class of 1929 | editor-last=Keatley | editor-first=J.H. | publisher=The Dubois Press | publication-place=Rochester, NY | location=Annapolis, MD | page=319 }}</ref> (At that time, the Academy did not confer degrees.) He ranked fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. The U.S. Navy commissioned him as an ensign shortly after his graduation. He advanced to lieutenant junior grade in 1931 while serving aboard the new [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}}, where he worked in [[radio communications]]—a technology then still in its earlier stages. The [[captain]] of this carrier, [[Ernest J. King]], later served as the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] and [[Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet]] during [[World War II]]. Military historians twice interviewed Heinlein during his later years and asked him about Captain King and his service as the commander of the U.S. Navy's first modern aircraft carrier. Heinlein also served as gunnery officer aboard the [[destroyer]] {{USS|Roper|DD-147|6}} in 1933 and 1934, reaching the rank of lieutenant.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt596nd35k/entire_text/|title= Robert A. and Virginia G. Heinlein Papers|website=Online Archive of California |access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=April 25, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190425055834/https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt596nd35k/entire_text/|url-status= live}}</ref> His brother, Lawrence Heinlein, served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the [[Missouri National Guard]], reaching the rank of [[major general (United States)|major general]] in the National Guard.<ref>
[http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/Gunn-GrandMaster-remarks.htm James Gunn, "Grand Master Award Remarks"] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110929035817/http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/Gunn-GrandMaster-remarks.htm |date=September 29, 2011 }}; [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19660627&id=uUgrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ktQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3796,2847290 "Credit Col. Earp and Gen. Heinlein with the Reactivation of Nevada's Camp Clark", ''The Nevada Daily Mail'', June 27, 1966].
</ref>

===Marriages===
In 1929, Heinlein married Elinor Curry of Kansas City.<ref>"Social Affairs of the Army and Navy", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''; September 1, 1929; p. B8.</ref> However, their marriage lasted only about one year.<ref name="hine-line_soc"/> His second marriage, to Leslyn MacDonald (1904–1981) in 1932, lasted 15 years. MacDonald was, according to the testimony of Heinlein's Navy friend, [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Cal Laning]], "astonishingly intelligent, widely read, and extremely liberal, though a registered [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]",<ref>Patterson, William H. ''Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Vol. 1 — Learning Curve (1907–1948)'', Tor Books, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0765319609}}</ref> while Isaac Asimov later recalled that Heinlein was, at the time, "a flaming [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]]".<ref name=autogenerated1>Isaac Asimov, ''I, Asimov''.</ref> ''(See section: [[#Politics|Politics of Robert Heinlein]].)''

[[File:heinleins-house.jpg|thumb|Virginia and Robert Heinlein in a 1952 ''Popular Mechanics'' article, titled "A House to Make Life Easy". The Heinleins, both engineers, designed the house for themselves with many innovative features.]]

At the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]], Heinlein met and befriended a [[chemical engineer]] named [[Virginia Heinlein|Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfeld]]. After the war, her engagement having fallen through, she attended [[UCLA]] for doctoral studies in [[chemistry]], and while there reconnected with Heinlein. As his second wife's [[alcoholism]] gradually spun out of control,<ref>{{cite book |title= Robert A. Heinlein: 1907–1948, learning curve| last=Patterson |first=William |year= 2010 |publisher= Tom Doherty Associates |location= New York |isbn= 978-0765319609 |chapter= Chapter 27|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Z93OvsN2yq8C&q=heinlein+cronkite&pg=PA13 |access-date= April 12, 2011}}</ref> Heinlein moved out and the couple filed for divorce. Heinlein's friendship with Virginia turned into a relationship and on October 21, 1948—shortly after the [[decree nisi]] came through—they married in the town of [[Raton, New Mexico]]. Soon thereafter, they set up housekeeping in the Broadmoor district of [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]], in a house that Heinlein and his wife designed. As the area was newly developed, they were allowed to choose their own house number, 1776 Mesa Avenue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2011/05/31/colorado-voices-the-festival-of-history/|title=Colorado Voices: The festival of history|date=May 31, 2011|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=December 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202162531/https://www.denverpost.com/2011/05/31/colorado-voices-the-festival-of-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> The design of the house was featured in ''[[Popular Mechanics]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/pm652-art-hi.html|title=site: Robert A. Heinlein – Archives – PM 6/52 Article|website=www.nitrosyncretic.com|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=October 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013112938/http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/pm652-art-hi.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They remained married until Heinlein's death. In 1965, after various chronic health problems of Virginia's were traced back to [[altitude sickness]], they moved to [[Santa Cruz, California]], which is at [[sea level]]. Robert and Virginia designed and built a new residence, circular in shape, in the nearby village of [[Bonny Doon, California|Bonny Doon]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/history/bonnydoon1.html | title=Heinlein Society Photo Tour of Bonny Doon | access-date=April 15, 2020 | archive-date=August 6, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806161550/https://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/history/bonnydoon1.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Heinlein, Robert A. ''[[Grumbles from the Grave]]'', ch. VII.  1989.</ref>

[[File:Heinlein Tahiti 2.jpg|thumb|left|Robert and Virginia Heinlein in [[Tahiti]], 1980]]

Ginny undoubtedly served as a model for many of his intelligent, fiercely independent female characters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/heinleinswomendeb.html |title=''The Rolling Stone'' |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |date=May 24, 2003 |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=February 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218062457/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/heinleinswomendeb.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/heinleinswomengeo.html |title=Heinlein's Women, by G. E. Rule |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |date=May 24, 2003 |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=August 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802004444/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/heinleinswomengeo.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>  She was a chemist and [[rocket engineering|rocket test engineer]], and held a higher rank in the Navy than Heinlein himself. She was also an accomplished college athlete, earning four [[varsity letter]]s.<ref name = virginia/> In 1953–1954, the Heinleins voyaged around the world (mostly via [[ocean liner]]s and [[cargo liner]]s, as Ginny detested flying), which Heinlein described in ''[[Tramp Royale]].'' The trip provided background material for science fiction novels set aboard spaceships on long voyages, such as ''[[Podkayne of Mars]]'', ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]'' and ''[[Job: A Comedy of Justice]]'', the latter initially being set on a cruise much as detailed in ''Tramp Royale''. Ginny acted as the first reader of his [[manuscript]]s. Isaac Asimov believed that Heinlein made a swing to the [[right-wing politics|right]] politically at the same time he married Ginny.

===California===
In 1934, Heinlein was discharged from the Navy, owing to [[pulmonary tuberculosis]]. During a lengthy hospitalization, and inspired by his own experience while bed-ridden, he developed a design for a [[waterbed]].<ref name="Expanded Universe">''Expanded Universe''</ref>

After his discharge, Heinlein attended a few weeks of graduate classes in [[mathematics]] and [[physics]] at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA), but he soon quit, either because of his ill-health or because of a desire to enter politics.<ref>Afterword to ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'', 2004 edition, p. 245.</ref>

[[File:Robert A. Heinlein 1938 Edit.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Heinlein as a candidate for [[California State Assembly]], 1938]]

Heinlein supported himself at several occupations, including [[real estate agent|real estate sales]] and [[mining|silver mining]], but for some years found money in short supply. Heinlein was active in [[Upton Sinclair]]'s socialist [[End Poverty in California movement]] (EPIC) in the early 1930s. He was deputy publisher of the ''EPIC News'', which Heinlein noted "recalled a mayor, kicked out a district attorney, replaced the governor with one of our choice."<ref>{{cite book |title=Off the Main Sequence | author=Robert A. Heinlein |date=2005 |publisher=Science Fiction Book Club |isbn=1582881847 |page=xiii |section=Foreword by Michael Cassutt}}</ref> When Sinclair gained the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nomination for [[Governor of California]] in 1934, Heinlein worked actively in the campaign. Heinlein himself ran for the [[California State Assembly]] in 1938, but was unsuccessful. He was running as a left-wing Democrat in a conservative district, and was defeated in the Democratic [[primary election|primary]] by fewer than 500 votes out of over 10,000 cast.<ref>(afterword to ''For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs'', 2004 edition, p. 247, and the story "[[A Bathroom of Her Own]]"). Also, an unfortunate juxtaposition of events had a [[Konrad Henlein]] making headlines in the [[Sudetenland]]s.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CA State Assembly 59 - D Primary |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1086894 |website=ourcampaigns.com |access-date=23 August 2025}}</ref>

===Author===
[[File:Heinlein-decamp-and-asimov.jpg|thumb|left|Robert A. Heinlein, [[L. Sprague de Camp]], and [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard|Philadelphia Navy Yard]], 1944]]

While not destitute after the campaign—he had a small disability pension from the Navy—Heinlein turned to writing to pay off his mortgage. His first published story, "[[Life-Line]]", was printed in the August 1939 issue of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''.<ref name="isfdb ..." /> Originally written for a contest, it sold to ''Astounding'' for significantly more than the contest's first-prize payoff. Another [[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]] story, "Misfit", followed in November.<ref name="isfdb ..." /> Some saw Heinlein's talent and stardom from his first story,<ref name="earlyyears79_82">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/earlyasimovorele00asim#page/78/mode/2up |title=The early Asimov; or, Eleven years of trying |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |publisher=Doubleday |year=1972 |location=Garden City, NY |pages=79–82}}</ref> and he was quickly acknowledged as a leader of the new movement toward [[social science fiction|"social" science fiction]]. In California he hosted the [[Mañana Literary Society]], a 1940–41 series of informal gatherings of new authors.<ref>Williamson, Jack "Who Was Robert Heinlein?" in ''Requiem: new collected works by Robert A. Heinlein and tributes to the grand master'' NY 1992 pp. 333–34 {{ISBN|0312855230}}</ref> He was the guest of honor at Denvention, the 1941 [[Worldcon]], held in Denver. During [[World War II]], Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Patterson | first = William | title = The Martian named Smith : critical perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a strange land | publisher = Nitrosyncretic Press | location = Sacramento, Calif | year = 2001 | isbn = 0967987423 }}</ref> Heinlein recruited [[Isaac Asimov]] and [[L. Sprague de Camp]] to also work there.<ref name="Expanded Universe"/> While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Latham|first=Rob|title=Beyond pulp: trailblazers of science fiction's golden age.|journal=Nature|date= October 10, 2018|volume=562|issue=7726|pages=189–190|doi=10.1038/d41586-018-06943-8|bibcode=2018Natur.562..189L|doi-access=free}}</ref>

As the war wound down in 1945, Heinlein began to re-evaluate his career. The [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], along with the outbreak of the [[Cold War]], galvanized him to write nonfiction on political topics. In addition, he wanted to break into better-paying markets. He published four influential [[short story|short stories]] for ''The Saturday Evening Post'' magazine, leading off, in February 1947, with "[[The Green Hills of Earth]]". That made him the first science fiction writer to break out of the "[[Pulp magazine|pulp ghetto]]". In 1950, the movie ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]''—the documentary-like film for which he had written the story and scenario, co-written the script, and invented many of the effects—won an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[special effect]]s.

Heinlein created SF stories with social commentary about relationships. In ''The Puppet Masters'', a 1951 alien invasion novel, the point of view character Sam persuades fellow operative Mary to marry him. When they go to the county clerk, they are offered a variety of marriage possibilities; "Term, renewable or lifetime", as short as six months or as long as forever.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olson |first=Glen W. |date=January 1, 2024 |title=Heinlein's Influence on Dating and Marriage Patterns in America, a Perspective |url=https://www.heinleinsociety.org/heinlein-journal/ |website=The Heinlein Journal}}</ref>

Also, he embarked on a series of [[young adult literature|juvenile novels]] for the [[Charles Scribner's Sons]] publishing company that went from 1947 through 1959, at the rate of one book each autumn, in time for [[Christmas]] presents to teenagers. He also wrote for ''[[Boys' Life]]'' in 1952.

Heinlein used topical materials throughout his [[Heinlein juveniles|juvenile series]] beginning in 1947, but in 1958 he interrupted work on ''The Heretic'' (the working title of ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'') to write and publish a book exploring ideas of civic virtue, initially serialized as ''Starship Soldiers''. In 1959, his novel (now entitled ''[[Starship Troopers]]'') was considered by the editors and owners of Scribner's to be too controversial for one of its prestige lines, and it was rejected.<ref>{{cite web|last=Causo |first=Roberto de Sousa |url=http://www.wegrokit.com/causost.htm |title=Citizenship at War |access-date=March 4, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315171915/http://www.wegrokit.com/causost.htm |archive-date=March 15, 2006 }}</ref> Heinlein found another publisher ([[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]]), feeling himself released from the constraints of writing novels for children. He had told an interviewer that he did not want to do stories that merely added to categories defined by other works. Rather he wanted to do his own work, stating that: "I want to do my own stuff, my own way".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQPHAgAAQBAJ|title=Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 2, 1948–1988 The Man Who Learned Better|last=Patterson|first=William H. Jr.|year=2014|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1429987967|page=207|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101172143/https://books.google.com/books?id=MQPHAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> He wrote a series of challenging books that redrew the boundaries of science fiction, including ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' (1961) and ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'' (1966).

===Later life and death===
[[File:RAHeinlein autographing Midamericon ddb-371-14.jpg|thumb|right|Heinlein autographs one of his works, 1976]]
Beginning in 1970, Heinlein had a series of health crises, broken by strenuous periods of activity in his hobby of [[stonemasonry]]: in a private correspondence, he referred to that as his "usual and favorite occupation between books".<ref>Virginia Heinlein to Michael A. Banks, 1988</ref> The decade began with a life-threatening attack of [[peritonitis]], recovery from which required more than two years, and treatment of which required multiple transfusions of Heinlein's [[Human blood group systems|rare blood type, A2 negative]].<!-- *not* "AB negative"-->{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} As soon as he was well enough to write again, he began work on ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' (1973), which introduced many of the themes found in his later fiction.

In the mid-1970s, Heinlein wrote two articles for the ''[[Britannica]] Compton Yearbook''.<ref>On Paul Dirac and antimatter, and on blood chemistry. A version of the former, titled ''Paul Dirac, Antimatter, and You'', was published in the anthology ''[[Expanded Universe (Heinlein)|Expanded Universe]]'', and it demonstrates both Heinlein's skill as a popularizer and his lack of depth in physics. An afterword gives a normalization equation and presents it, incorrectly, as being the [[Dirac equation]].</ref> He and Ginny crisscrossed the country helping to reorganize [[blood donation]] in the United States in an effort to assist the system which had saved his life.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} At science fiction conventions to receive his autograph, fans would be asked to co-sign with Heinlein a beautifully embellished pledge form he supplied stating that the recipient agrees that they will [[Blood donation|donate blood]]. He was the guest of honor at the Worldcon in 1976 for the third time at [[34th World Science Fiction Convention|MidAmeriCon]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. At that Worldcon, Heinlein hosted a blood drive and donors' reception to thank all those who had helped save lives.

Beginning in 1977, and including an episode while vacationing in [[Tahiti]] in early 1978, he had episodes of reversible neurologic dysfunction due to [[transient ischemic attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/2013/02/faq-frequently-asked-questions-about-robert-a-heinlein-the-person-2/|title=FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Robert A. Heinlein, the person. |work=The Heinlein Society |access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=February 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213124001/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/2013/02/faq-frequently-asked-questions-about-robert-a-heinlein-the-person-2/|url-status=live}}</ref> Over the next few months, he became more and more exhausted, and his health again began to decline. The problem was determined to be [[Carotid artery stenosis|a blocked carotid artery]], and he had one of the earliest known carotid bypass operations to correct it.

In 1980, Robert Heinlein was a member of the [[Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy]], chaired by [[Jerry Pournelle]], which met at the home of SF writer [[Larry Niven]] to write space policy papers for the incoming [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]]. Members included such aerospace industry leaders as former astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]], General [[Daniel O. Graham]], [[Aerospace engineering|aerospace engineer]] [[Maxwell Hunter|Max Hunter]] and [[North American Rockwell]] VP for Space Shuttle development George Merrick. Policy recommendations from the Council included ballistic missile defense concepts which were later transformed into what was called the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]]. Heinlein assisted with Council contribution to the Reagan SDI spring 1983 speech. Asked to appear before a [[Joint Committee of the United States Congress]] that year, he testified on his belief that [[Government spin-off|spin-offs]] from [[space technology]] were benefiting the infirm and the elderly.

Heinlein's surgical treatment re-energized him, and he wrote five novels from 1980 until he died in his sleep from [[emphysema]] and [[heart failure]] on May 8, 1988.

In 1995, [[Spider Robinson]] wrote the novel ''[[Variable Star]]'' based on an outline and notes created by Heinlein.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Society |first1=National Space |title=Book Review: Variable Star – National Space Society |url=https://space.nss.org/book-review-variable-star/ |date=October 25, 2006}}</ref> Heinlein's posthumously published nonfiction includes a selection of correspondence and notes edited into a somewhat autobiographical examination of his career, published in 1989 under the title ''[[Grumbles from the Grave]]'' by his wife, Virginia; his book on practical politics written in 1946 and published as ''[[Take Back Your Government]]'' in 1992; and a travelogue of their first around-the-world tour in 1954, ''[[Tramp Royale]]''. The novel ''Podkayne of Mars,'' which had been edited against Heinlein's wishes in its original release, was reissued with the original ending. ''Stranger In a Strange Land'' was originally published in a shorter form, but both the long and short versions are now simultaneously available in print.

Heinlein's archive is housed by the Special Collections department of McHenry Library at the [[University of California at Santa Cruz]]. The collection includes manuscript drafts, correspondence, photographs and artifacts. A substantial portion of the archive has been digitized and it is available online through the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Archives.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Heinlein Archives |url=https://www.heinleinarchive.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207002700/http://www.heinleinarchives.net/upload/index.php |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |access-date=October 21, 2008 |publisher=The Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Archives}}</ref>

==Written works==
{{Main|Robert A. Heinlein bibliography}}

Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his lifetime. Nine films, two television series, several episodes of a radio series, and a board game have been derived more or less directly from his work. He wrote a screenplay for one of the films. Heinlein edited an anthology of other writers' SF short stories.

Three nonfiction books and two poems have been published posthumously. ''For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs'' was published posthumously in 2003;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Heinlein's Prophetic First Novel, Lost and Found |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/10/arts/heinlein-s-prophetic-first-novel-lost-and-found.html |website=The New York Times |date=March 10, 2004}}</ref> ''Variable Star'', written by Spider Robinson based on an extensive outline by Heinlein, was published in September 2006. Four collections have been published posthumously.<ref name="isfdb ..." />

===Early work, 1939–1958===
Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for ''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. The science fiction writer [[Frederik Pohl]] has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-era sf writers".<ref name="Working with">{{cite web|title=Working with Robert A. Heinlein|url=http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|website=Thewaythefutureblogs.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816055831/http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|archive-date=August 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that Heinlein was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|title=I, Asimov: A Memoir|last=Asimov|first=Isaac|year=2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0307573537|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101100932/https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|url-status=live}}</ref>

Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in the first few years of his career."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|title=The Death of Science Fiction: A Dream, Part 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei and Cory|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730234847/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexei expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now, yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting according to its terms."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|title=Heinlein and the Golden Age, 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325191609/http://panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Two complete science adventure books 1952win n7.jpg|thumb|upright|Heinlein's 1942 novel ''[[Beyond This Horizon]]'' was reprinted in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' in 1952, appearing under the "Anson McDonald" byline even though the book edition had been published under Heinlein's own name four years earlier.]]
[[File:Galaxy 195109.jpg|thumb|upright|The opening installment of ''The Puppet Masters'' took the cover of the September 1951 issue of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]''.]]

The first novel that Heinlein wrote, ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'' (1939), did not see print during his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard it as a failure as a novel,<ref name="aolbio"/> considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's [[social theory|social theories]], some readers took a very different view. In a review of it, [[John Clute]] wrote:

<blockquote>I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in the pages of ''Astounding'' in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in ''Astounding'' and its fellow journals, then SF might not have done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|title=Electrolite: 'He was the train we did not catch.'|publisher=nielsenhayden.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=October 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029170922/http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

''For Us, the Living'' was intriguing as a window into the development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as a [[social animal]], including his interest in [[free love]]. The root of many themes found in his later stories can be found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banished to [[Coventry (short story)|Coventry]] (a lawless land in the Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled).<ref>{{Cite book|title=For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs|last=Robert A.|first=Heinlein|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2004|isbn=978-0743261579|page=133}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Heinlein Amazing 5304.jpg|thumb|left|Heinlein as depicted in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1953]]

It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s, and had an [[open relationship]] in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a [[Naturism|nudist]];<ref name="hine-line_soc"/> nudism and body [[taboo]]s are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the [[Cold War]], he built a [[air-raid shelter|bomb shelter]] under his house, like the one featured in ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]''.<ref name="hine-line_soc"/>

After ''For Us, the Living'', Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a [[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]], complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the future history was published in the May 1941 issue of ''Astounding''. Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and short stories that deviated freely from the Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories.

Heinlein's first novel published as a book, ''[[Rocket Ship Galileo]]'', was initially rejected because going to the Moon was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found a publisher, [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner's]], that began publishing a Heinlein [[young adult literature|juvenile]] once a year for the Christmas season.<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Expanded Universe'', foreword to "Free Men", p. 207 of Ace paperback edition.</ref> Eight of these books were illustrated by [[Clifford Geary]] in a distinctive white-on-black [[scratchboard]] style.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexei Panshin |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |title=Heinlein in Dimension, Chapter 3, Part 1 |publisher=Enter.net |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=July 31, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020731131454/http://panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some representative novels of this type are ''[[Have Space Suit—Will Travel]]'', ''[[Farmer in the Sky]]'', and ''[[Starman Jones]]''. Many of these were first published in serial form under other titles, e.g., ''Farmer in the Sky'' was published as ''Satellite Scout'' in the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] magazine ''[[Boys' Life]]''. There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life{{clarify|date=June 2020}} and his career as an author of books for children. However, ''For Us, the Living'' explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein attached to privacy as a matter of principle.{{refn|1=The importance Heinlein attached to privacy was made clear in his fiction, ''e.g.'', ''For Us, the Living'', but also in several well-known examples from his life. He had a falling out with [[Alexei Panshin]], who wrote an important book analyzing Heinlein's fiction; Heinlein stopped cooperating with Panshin because he accused Panshin of "[attempting to] pry into his affairs and to violate his privacy". Heinlein wrote to Panshin's publisher threatening to sue, and stating, "You are warned that only the barest facts of my private life are public knowledge&nbsp;...".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |title=The Story of Heinlein in Dimension, 6 |first=Alexei |last=Panshin |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095534/http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Heinlein was a nudist, and built a fence around his house in Santa Cruz to keep out the counterculture types who had learned of his ideas through ''Stranger in a Strange Land''. In his later life, Heinlein studiously avoided revealing his early involvement in left-wing politics,<ref name="Perry A">{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |title=Ham and Eggs and Heinlein, 1 |first=Thomas |last=Perry |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113014/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> and made strenuous efforts to block publication of information he had revealed to prospective biographer Sam Moskowitz.<ref name="Perry A" />}}

The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On the surface, they are simple tales of adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable for adults. ''[[Red Planet (novel)|Red Planet]]'', for example, portrays some subversive themes, including a revolution in which young students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile SF.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

In 1957, [[James Blish]] wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been the high grade of machinery which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of it."<ref>[[James Blish]], ''The Issues at Hand'', p. 52.</ref>

===1959–1960===
Heinlein decisively ended his juvenile novels with ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' (1959), a controversial work and his personal riposte to leftists calling for President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] to stop nuclear testing in 1958. "The 'Patrick Henry' ad shocked 'em", he wrote many years later of the campaign. "''Starship Troopers'' outraged 'em."<ref name="In A Strangle Land">{{cite web|url=http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=YjE5OGQwZDgzODc5OTYwODRkNTIzM2Y5ZWZhNDUwNTE= |access-date=November 27, 2009 |title=In A Strange Land |author=John J. Miller |publisher=National Review Online Books Arts and Manners |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717033555/http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=YjE5OGQwZDgzODc5OTYwODRkNTIzM2Y5ZWZhNDUwNTE%3D |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> ''Starship Troopers'' is a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society.<ref>[http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/062007/06302007/296085/index_html Centenary a modern sci-fi giant] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708204624/http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/062007/06302007/296085/index_html |date=July 8, 2012 }} The Free Lance Star, June 30, 2007.</ref> The book portrays a society in which [[suffrage]] is earned by demonstrated willingness to place society's interests before one's own, at least for a short time and often under onerous circumstances, in government service; in the case of the protagonist, this was military service.

Later, in ''[[Expanded Universe (Heinlein)|Expanded Universe]]'', Heinlein said that it was his intention in the novel that service could include positions outside strictly military functions such as teachers, police officers, and other government positions. This is presented in the novel as an outgrowth of the failure of unearned suffrage government and as a very successful arrangement. In addition, the franchise was only awarded after leaving the assigned service; thus those serving their terms—in the military, or any other service—were excluded from exercising any franchise. Career military were completely disenfranchised until retirement.

===Middle period work, 1961–1973===
[[File:If 196211.jpg|thumb|upright|Heinlein's novel ''Podkayne of Mars'' was serialized in ''[[If (magazine)|If]]'', with a cover by [[Virgil Finlay]].]]
From about 1961 (''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'') to 1973 (''Time Enough for Love''), Heinlein explored some of his most important themes, such as [[individualism]], [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarianism]], and free expression of physical and emotional love. Three novels from this period, ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'', and ''Time Enough for Love'', won the [[Libertarian Futurist Society]]'s [[Prometheus Hall of Fame Award]], designed to honor classic libertarian fiction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm|title=Libertarian Futurist Society|website=Lfs.org|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628180047/http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Jeff Riggenbach described ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' as "unquestionably one of the three or four most influential libertarian novels of the last century".<ref name=Riggenbach>{{cite journal|last=Riggenbach|first=Jeff|title=Was Robert A. Heinlein a Libertarian?|journal=Mises Daily|publisher=[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]|date=June 2, 2010|url=https://mises.org/daily/4428/Was-Robert-A-Heinlein-a-Libertarian|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914002124/https://mises.org/daily/4428/Was-Robert-A-Heinlein-a-Libertarian|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heinlein did not publish ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' until some time after it was written, and the themes of free love and radical [[individualism]] are prominently featured in his long-unpublished first novel, ''For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs''.

''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' tells of a war of independence waged by the Lunar penal colonies, with significant comments from a major character, Professor La Paz, regarding the threat posed by government to individual freedom.

Although Heinlein had previously written a few short stories in the [[fantasy]] genre, during this period he wrote his first fantasy novel, ''[[Glory Road (Heinlein novel)|Glory Road]]''. In ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' and ''[[I Will Fear No Evil]]'', he began to mix hard science with fantasy, mysticism, and satire of organized religion. Critics William H. Patterson, Jr., and Andrew Thornton believe that this is simply an expression of Heinlein's longstanding philosophical opposition to [[Positivism (philosophy)|positivism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Patterson |first1=William H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZkrAQAAIAAJ&q=Heinlein+positivism+Thornton |title=The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land |last2=Thornton |first2=Andrew |date=2001 |publisher=Nitrosyncretic Press |isbn=978-0967987422 |page=129 |language=en}}</ref> Heinlein stated that he was influenced by [[James Branch Cabell]] in taking this new literary direction. The penultimate novel of this period, ''I Will Fear No Evil'', is according to critic James Gifford "almost universally regarded as a literary failure"<ref>Gifford, James. ''Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion'', Nitrosyncretic Press, Sacramento, California, 2000, p. 102.</ref> and he attributes its shortcomings to Heinlein's near-death from [[peritonitis]].

===Later work, 1980–1987===
After a seven-year hiatus brought on by poor health, Heinlein produced five new novels in the period from 1980 (''[[The Number of the Beast (novel)|The Number of the Beast]]'') to 1987 (''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]''). These books have a thread of common characters and time and place. They most explicitly communicated Heinlein's philosophies and beliefs, and many long, didactic passages of dialog and exposition deal with government, sex, and religion. These novels are controversial among his readers and one critic, [[David Langford]], has written about them very negatively.<ref>See, e.g., {{Cite web |title=Vulgarity and Nullity. Robert A. Heinlein 'The Number of the Beast' |url=https://ansible.uk/writing/numbeast.html |first=David |last=Langford |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=Ansible.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120081308/http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/numbeast.html |archive-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref> Heinlein's four Hugo awards were all for books written before this period.

Most of the novels from this period are recognized by critics as forming an offshoot from the Future History series and are referred to by the term ''World as Myth''.<ref>Patterson, William H., Jr., and Thornton, Andrew., The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, p. 128: "His books written after about 1980&nbsp;... belong to a series called by one of the central characters ''World as Myth''." The term Multiverse also occurs in the print literature, e.g., Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion, James Gifford, Nitrosyncretic Press, Sacramento, California, 2000. The term World as Myth occurs for the first time in Heinlein's novel ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]''.</ref>

The tendency toward authorial self-reference begun in ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' and ''Time Enough for Love'' becomes even more evident in novels such as ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]'', whose first-person protagonist is a disabled military veteran who becomes a writer, and finds love with a female character.<ref name="Robert A. Heinlein Biography">{{cite web|url=http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits|title=Robert A. Heinlein, 1907–1988|access-date=November 27, 2009|work=Biography of Robert A. Heinlein|publisher=University of California Santa Cruz|archive-date=April 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418114331/http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1982 novel ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]'', a more conventional adventure story (borrowing a character and backstory from the earlier short story ''[[Gulf (novella)|Gulf]]'', also containing suggestions of connection to ''[[The Puppet Masters]]'') continued a Heinlein theme of expecting what he saw as the continued disintegration of Earth's society, to the point where the title character is strongly encouraged to seek a new life off-planet. It concludes with a traditional Heinlein note, as in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' or ''Time Enough for Love'', that freedom is to be found on the frontiers.

The 1984 novel ''[[Job: A Comedy of Justice]]'' is a sharp satire of organized religion. Heinlein himself was agnostic.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Heinlein Interview: And Other Heinleiniana|year=1999|publisher=Pulpless.Com|isbn=978-1584450153|page=62|author=J. Neil Schulman|chapter=Job: A Comedy of Justice Reviewed by J. Neil Schulman|quote=Lewis converted me from atheism to Christianity—Rand converted me back to atheism, with Heinlein standing on the sidelines rooting for agnosticism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0754693604|page=57|author=Carole M. Cusack|quote=Heinlein, like Robert Anton Wilson, was a lifelong agnostic, believing that to affirm that there is no God was as silly and unsupported as to affirm that there was a God.}}</ref>

===Posthumous publications===
Several Heinlein works have been published since his death, including the aforementioned ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs|For Us, the Living]]'' as well as 1989's ''[[Grumbles from the Grave]]'', a collection of letters between Heinlein and his editors and agent; 1992's ''[[Tramp Royale]]'', a travelogue of a southern hemisphere tour the Heinleins took in the 1950s; ''[[Take Back Your Government]]'', a how-to book about participatory democracy written in 1946 and reflecting his experience as an organizer with the [[End Poverty in California|EPIC campaign of 1934]] and the movement's aftermath as an important factor in California politics before the Second World War; and a tribute volume called ''[[Requiem (short story collection)|Requiem: Collected Works and Tributes to the Grand Master]]'', containing some additional short works previously unpublished in book form. ''[[Off the Main Sequence]]'', published in 2005, includes three short stories never before collected in any Heinlein book (Heinlein called them "stinkeroos").

[[Spider Robinson]], a colleague, friend, and admirer of Heinlein,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html |title=Heinleinsociety.org |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=January 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115075823/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> wrote ''[[Variable Star]]'', based on an outline and notes for a novel that Heinlein prepared in 1955. The novel was published as a collaboration, with Heinlein's name above Robinson's on the cover, in 2006.

A complete collection of Heinlein's published work has been published<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinbooks.com/ |title=heinleinbooks.com |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |access-date=January 17, 2015 |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227222914/http://www.heinleinbooks.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> by the Heinlein Prize Trust as the "Virginia Edition", after his wife. See the Complete Works section of [[Robert A. Heinlein bibliography]] for details.

On February 1, 2019, Phoenix Pick announced that through a collaboration with the Heinlein Prize Trust, a reconstruction of the full text of an unpublished Heinlein novel had been produced. It was published in March 2020. The reconstructed novel, entitled ''The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes'',<ref>{{cite book | last = Heinlein | first = Robert | title = The pursuit of the Pankera : a parallel novel about parallel universes | publisher = CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, an imprint of Arc Manor Publishers | location = Rockville, MD | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-1647100018 }}</ref> is an alternative version of ''The Number of the Beast'', with the first one-third of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' mostly the same as the first one-third of ''The Number of the Beast'' but the remainder of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' deviating entirely from ''The Number of the Beast'', with a completely different story-line. The newly reconstructed novel pays homage to [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] and [[E. E. Smith|E. E. "Doc" Smith]]. It was edited by [[Pat LoBrutto|Patrick Lobrutto]]. Some reviewers describe the newly reconstructed novel as more in line with the style of a traditional Heinlein novel than was ''The Number of the Beast''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/08/unseen-robert-a-heinlein-novel-reworks-awful-the-number-of-the-beast|title=Unseen Robert A Heinlein novel reworks 'awful' The Number of the Beast|date=February 8, 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=February 13, 2021|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002430/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/08/unseen-robert-a-heinlein-novel-reworks-awful-the-number-of-the-beast|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' was considered superior to the original version of ''The Number of the Beast'' by some reviewers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2020/04/09/long-lost-treasure-the-pursuit-of-the-pankera-vs-the-number-of-the-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/|title=Long-Lost Treasure: The Pursuit of the Pankera vs. The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein|first=Alan|last=Brown|date=April 9, 2020|website=Tor.com|access-date=May 1, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412140938/https://www.tor.com/2020/04/09/long-lost-treasure-the-pursuit-of-the-pankera-vs-the-number-of-the-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/|url-status=live}}</ref>  Both ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' and a new edition of ''The Number of the Beast''<ref>{{cite book | last = Heinlein | first = Robert | title = The number of the beast : a parallel novel about parallel universes | publisher = CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, an imprint of Arc Manor Publishers | location = Rockville, NY | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-1647100032 }}</ref> were published in March 2020. The new edition of the latter shares the subtitle of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'', hence entitled ''The Number of the Beast: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arcmanormagazines.com/six-six-six|title=six-six-six|website=Arc Manor Magazines|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=February 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204180059/https://www.arcmanormagazines.com/six-six-six|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-6-20-19-mamas-dont-let-your-pixels-grow-up-to-be-scrollers/|title = Pixel Scroll 6/20/19 Mamas, Don't Let Your Pixels Grow up to be Scrollers|date = June 21, 2019|access-date = June 23, 2019|archive-date = June 23, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190623204359/http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-6-20-19-mamas-dont-let-your-pixels-grow-up-to-be-scrollers/|url-status = live}}</ref>

== Movies ==
{{Main|Robert A. Heinlein bibliography}}
Heinlein contributed to the final draft of the script for ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]'' (1950) and served as a technical adviser for the film.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020/06/12/destination-moon-a-70th-anniversary-appreciation/|title=Destination Moon: A 70th Anniversary Appreciation|website=www.centauri-dreams.org}}</ref> Heinlein also shared screenwriting credit for ''[[Project Moonbase]]'' (1953).

==Influences==
The primary influence on Heinlein's writing style may have been [[Rudyard Kipling]]. Kipling is the first known modern example of "[[Exposition (narrative)#Indirect exposition/incluing|indirect exposition]]", a writing technique for which Heinlein later became famous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234|title=Rudyard Kipling Invented SF!|first=Eric|last=Raymond|date=December 2, 2005|website=ibiblio.org|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401060459/http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234|url-status=live}}</ref> In his famous text on "[[On the Writing of Speculative Fiction]]", Heinlein quotes Kipling:

{{poemquote|
There are nine-and-sixty ways
Of constructing tribal lays
And every single one of them is right
}}

''Stranger in a Strange Land'' originated as a modernized version of Kipling's ''[[The Jungle Book]]''. His wife suggested that the child be raised by Martians instead of wolves. Likewise, ''Citizen of the Galaxy'' can be seen as a reboot of Kipling's novel ''[[Kim (novel)|Kim]]''.<ref name=Lerner>{{Cite web|date=June 21, 2021|title=A Master of our Art. Rudyard Kipling considered as a Science Fiction writer |first=Fred |last=Lerner |url=https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/readers-guide/rg_scifi.htm |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=The Kipling Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030074117/http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_scifi.htm |archive-date=October 30, 2017 |quote=But the best way to understand why Kipling has exerted so great an influence over modern science fiction is to read his own work. Begin with ''Kim'', the most successful evocation of an alien world ever produced in English. Follow the Grand Trunk Road toward the Northwest Frontier, and watch the parade of cultures that young Kimball O'Hara encounters. Place yourself in his position, that of a half-assimilated stranger in a strange land; and observe carefully the uneven effects of an ancient society's encounter with a technologically advanced culture. SF writers have found Kim so appealing that several have told their own versions of the story: Robert Heinlein's ''Citizen of the Galaxy'' and Poul Anderson's ''The Game of Empire'' are two of the best.}}</ref>

The ''Starship Troopers'' idea of needing to serve in the military in order to vote can be found in Kipling's "[[The Army of a Dream]]":

{{blockquote|But as a little detail we never mention, if we don't volunteer in some corps or other—as combatants if we're fit, as non-combatants if we ain't—till we're thirty-five—we don't vote, and we don't get poor-relief, and the women don't love us.}}

Poul Anderson once said of Kipling's science fiction story "[[Aerial Board of Control|As Easy as A.B.C.]]", "a wonderful science fiction yarn, showing the same eye for detail that would later distinguish the work of Robert Heinlein".

Heinlein described himself as also being influenced by [[George Bernard Shaw]], having read most of his plays.<ref name="schulman"/> Shaw is an example of an earlier author who used the [[competent man]], a favorite Heinlein archetype.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZqdAgAAQBAJ&q=kipling+influenced+heinlein&pg=PA197|title=The Heritage of Heinlein: A Critical Reading of the Fiction|first1=Thomas D.|last1=Clareson|first2=Joe|last2=Sanders|year=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786474981|access-date=February 26, 2019|via=Google Books|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003114/https://books.google.com/books?id=jZqdAgAAQBAJ&q=kipling+influenced+heinlein&pg=PA197|url-status=live}}</ref> He denied, though, any direct influence of ''[[Back to Methuselah]]'' on ''[[Methuselah's Children]]''.

==Views==
[[File:Robert A Heinlein 5311 (filtered).jpg|thumb|Heinlein {{Circa|1953}}]]
Heinlein's books probe a range of ideas about a range of topics such as sexuality, race, politics, and the military. Many were seen as radical or as ahead of their time in their social criticism. His books have inspired considerable debate about the specifics, and the evolution, of Heinlein's own opinions, and have earned him both lavish praise and a degree of criticism. He has also been accused of contradicting himself on various philosophical questions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Sturgis |first=Amy |title=Heinlein, Robert (1907–1988) |author-link=Amy H. Sturgis |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n134 |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024 |lccn=2008009151 |pages=223–24 |access-date=February 16, 2016 |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930070314/https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Brian Doherty (journalist)|Brian Doherty]] cites William Patterson, saying that the best way to gain an understanding of Heinlein is as a "full-service iconoclast, the unique individual who decides that things do not have to be, and won't continue, as they are". He says this vision is "at the heart of Heinlein, science fiction, libertarianism, and America. Heinlein imagined how everything about the human world, from our sexual mores to our religion to our automobiles to our government to our plans for cultural survival, might be flawed, even fatally so."<ref name="RH at 100">{{cite web|url=http://reason.com/archives/2007/07/09/robert-heinlein-at-100|title=Robert Heinlein at 100|date=July 9, 2007|website=Reason.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=July 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712072229/http://reason.com/archives/2007/07/09/robert-heinlein-at-100|url-status=live}}</ref>

The critic [[Elizabeth Anne Hull]], for her part, has praised Heinlein for his interest in exploring fundamental life questions, especially questions about "political power—our responsibilities to one another" and about "personal freedom, particularly sexual freedom".<ref name="Church of All Worlds">{{cite journal|url=https://usyd.academia.edu/CaroleCusack/Papers/757605/Science_Fiction_as_Scripture_Robert_A._Heinleins_Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_and_the_Church_of_All_Worlds|title=Science Fiction as Scripture: Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and the Church of All Worlds|first=Carole|last=Cusack|journal=Reprinted in Lawrence J. Trudeau (Ed.), Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 337, Detroit: Gale, Cengage, 2016, Pp. 282–293.|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003116/https://www.academia.edu/738499/Science_Fiction_as_Scripture_Robert_A_Heinlein_s_Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_and_the_Church_of_All_Worlds|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Edward R. Murrow]] hosted a series on [[CBS Radio]] called ''[[This I Believe]]'', which solicited an entry from Heinlein in 1952. Titled "[[Our Noble, Essential Decency]]". In it, Heinlein broke with the normal trends, stating that he believed in his neighbors (some of whom he named and described), community, and towns across America that share the same sense of good will and intentions as his own, going on to apply this same philosophy to the US, and humanity in general.

{{blockquote|I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime. Yet for every criminal, there are ten thousand honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime.}}

===Politics===
Heinlein's political positions shifted throughout his life. Heinlein's early political leanings were [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]].<ref name=Wooster>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2010/10/heinleins-conservatism-martin-morse-wooster/ |title=Heinlein's Conservatism |first=Martin Morse |last=Wooster |website=[[National Review Online]] |date=October 25, 2010 |access-date=December 29, 2022 |language=en-US}} (a review of William Patterson's ''Learning Curve: 1907–1948'', the first volume of his authorized biography, ''Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century'').</ref> In 1934, he worked actively for the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] campaign of [[Upton Sinclair]] for [[Governor of California]]. After Sinclair lost, Heinlein became an anti-communist Democratic activist. He made an unsuccessful bid for a [[California State Assembly]] seat in 1938.<ref name=Wooster/> Heinlein's first novel, ''For Us, the Living'' (written 1939), consists largely of speeches advocating the [[Social Credit]] philosophy, and the early story "[[Misfit (short story)|Misfit]]" (1939) deals with an organization—"The Cosmic Construction Corps"—that seems to be [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] translated into outer space.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/real/c_real.htm|title = A Heinlein Concordance|website = www.heinleinsociety.org|first = M. E.|last = Cowan|date = 2004|access-date = April 20, 2019|archive-date = May 11, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190511222511/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/real/c_real.htm|url-status = dead}}</ref>

Of this time in his life, Heinlein later said:

{{blockquote|At the time I wrote ''Methuselah's Children'' I was still politically quite naïve and still had hopes that various libertarian notions could be put over by political processes... It [now] seems to me that every time we manage to establish one freedom, they take another one away. Maybe two. And that seems to me characteristic of a society as it gets older, and more crowded, and higher taxes, and more laws.<ref name="schulman">J. Neil Schulman, ''The Robert Heinlein Interview, and other Heinleiniana'' (1973)<!--publisher & place?-->{{page needed|date=December 2018}}</ref>}}

Heinlein's fiction of the 1940s and 1950s, however, began to espouse [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] views. After 1945, he came to believe that a strong [[world government]] was the only way to avoid [[mutual assured destruction|mutual nuclear annihilation]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2010 |title=Heinlein's Conservatism |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2010/10/heinleins-conservatism-martin-morse-wooster/ |access-date=July 13, 2024 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref> His 1949 novel ''[[Space Cadet]]'' describes a future scenario where a military-controlled global government enforces world peace. Heinlein ceased considering himself a Democrat in 1954.<ref name=Wooster/>

The Heinleins formed the [[Patrick Henry League]] in 1958, and they worked in the 1964 [[Barry Goldwater]] presidential campaign.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

{{blockquote|text=When Robert A. Heinlein opened his [[Colorado Springs]] newspaper on April 5, 1958, he read a full-page ad demanding that the Eisenhower Administration stop testing nuclear weapons. The science fiction author was flabbergasted. He called for the formation of the Patrick Henry League and spent the next several weeks writing and publishing his own polemic that lambasted "Communist-line goals concealed in idealistic-sounding nonsense" and urged Americans not to become "soft-headed".<ref name="In A Strangle Land" />}}

Heinlein's response ad was entitled "[[Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry?]]". It started with the famous Henry quotation: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!!" It then went on to admit that there was some risk to nuclear testing (albeit less than the "willfully distorted" claims of the test ban advocates), and risk of nuclear war, but that "The alternative is surrender. We accept the risks." Heinlein was among those who in 1968 signed a pro–[[Vietnam War]] ad in ''Galaxy Science Fiction''.<ref name="vietnamads">{{Cite magazine |date=June 1968 |title=Paid Advertisement |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=4–11}}</ref>

Heinlein always considered himself a libertarian; in a letter to Judith Merril in 1967 (never sent) he said, "As for libertarian, I've been one all my life, a radical one. You might use the term '[[philosophical anarchist]]' or '[[autarchist]]' about me, but 'libertarian' is easier to define and fits well enough."<ref>Patterson, William (2014). ''Robert A. Heinlein: 1948–1988, The Man Who Learned Better''. New York: Tom Doherty Associates. p. 389. {{ISBN|978-0765319616}}.</ref>

''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'' was embraced by the 1960s [[counterculture]], and libertarians have found inspiration in ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''. Both groups found resonance with his themes of personal freedom in both thought and action.<ref name=Riggenbach/>

===Race===
Heinlein grew up in the era of [[racial segregation in the United States]] and wrote some of his most influential fiction at the height of the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. He explicitly made the case for using his fiction not only to predict the future but also to educate his readers about the value of [[racial equality]] and the importance of racial tolerance.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Erisman|first= Fred|title=Robert Heinlein's Case for Racial Tolerance, 1954–1956|journal= Extrapolation|volume= 29|issue= 3|year=1988|pages= 216–226|doi= 10.3828/extr.1988.29.3.216}}</ref> His early novels were ahead of their time both in their explicit rejection of racism and in their inclusion of protagonists of color. In the context of science fiction before the 1960s, the mere existence of characters of color was a remarkable novelty, with green occurring more often than brown.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pearson|first= Wendy|chapter=Race relations|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year= 2005|pages= 648–50}}</ref> For example, his 1948 novel ''Space Cadet'' explicitly uses aliens as a metaphor for minorities. The 1947 story "[[Jerry Was a Man]]" uses enslaved genetically modified chimpanzees as a symbol for Black Americans fighting for civil rights.<ref>{{cite web | last=Greeley | first=Henry T. | title=BioSci Fi: "Jerry Was a Man", Robert A. Heinlein, 1947 | website=Stanford Law School | date=October 17, 2012 | url=https://law.stanford.edu/2012/10/17/lawandbiosciences-2012-10-17-science-fiction-law-and-biosciences-jerry-was-a-man-robert-a-heinlein-1947/ | access-date=April 8, 2025}}</ref> In his novel ''[[The Star Beast (novel)|The Star Beast]]'', the ''de facto'' foreign minister of the Terran government is an undersecretary, a Mr. Kiku, who is from Africa.<ref name="Star31">{{cite book |last=Heinlein |first=Robert A. |title=The Star Beast |url=https://archive.org/details/starbeast00hein |url-access=limited |year=1954 |publisher=Charles Schribner's Sons |page=[https://archive.org/details/starbeast00hein/page/31 31]}}</ref> Heinlein explicitly states his skin is "ebony black" and that Kiku is in an [[arranged marriage]] that is happy.<ref name="Star249">{{cite book |last=Heinlein |first=Robert A. |title=The Star Beast |url=https://archive.org/details/starbeast00hein |url-access=limited |year=1954 |publisher=Charles Schribner's Sons |page=[https://archive.org/details/starbeast00hein/page/249 249]}}</ref>

In a number of his stories, Heinlein challenges his readers' possible racial preconceptions by introducing a strong, sympathetic character, only to reveal much later that he or she is of African or other ancestry. In several cases, the covers of the books show characters as being light-skinned when the text states or at least implies that they are dark-skinned or of African ancestry.{{#Tag:Ref |The reference in ''Tunnel in the Sky'' is subtle and ambiguous, but at least one college instructor who teaches the book reports that some students always ask, "Is he [[African American|black]]?" (see<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/faqworks.html |title=FAQ: Heinlein's Works |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=April 22, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190422034221/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/faqworks.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>).

The Heinlein scholar and critic James Gifford (see bibliography) states: "A very subtle point in the book, one found only by the most careful reading and confirmed by Virginia Heinlein, is that Rod Walker is black. The most telling clues are Rod's comments about Caroline Mshiyeni being similar to his sister, and the 'obvious' (to all of the other characters) pairing of Rod and Caroline."<ref>{{cite book|author=J. Daniel Gifford|title=Robert A. Heinlein: a reader's companion|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2V6vAAAAIAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Nitrosyncretic Press|isbn=978-0967987415|page=201|access-date= February 16, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170101204016/https://books.google.com/books?id=2V6vAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>}} Heinlein repeatedly denounced racism in his nonfiction works, including numerous examples in ''Expanded Universe''.

Heinlein reveals in ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' that the novel's protagonist and narrator, [[Johnny Rico (Starship Troopers)|Johnny Rico]], the formerly disaffected scion of a wealthy family, is [[Filipino people|Filipino]], actually named "Juan Rico" and speaks [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] in addition to English.

Race was a central theme in some of Heinlein's fiction. The most prominent example is ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]'', which casts a [[white (people)|white]] family into a future in which white people are the slaves of cannibalistic black rulers. In the 1941 novel ''[[Sixth Column]]'' (also known as ''The Day After Tomorrow''), a white resistance movement in the United States defends itself against an invasion by an Asian fascist state (the "Pan-Asians") using a "super-science" technology that allows ray weapons to be tuned to specific races. The idea for the story was pushed on Heinlein by editor [[John W. Campbell]] and the story itself was based on a then-unpublished story by Campbell, and Heinlein wrote later that he had "had to re-slant it to remove racist aspects of the original story line" and that he did not "consider it to be an artistic success".<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Expanded Universe'', foreword to ''Solution Unsatisfactory'', p. 93 of Ace paperback edition.</ref><ref>Citations at [[Sixth Column]].</ref> However, the novel prompted a heated debate in the scientific community regarding the plausibility of developing [[ethnic bioweapon]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Appel|first=J. M.|date=July 1, 2009|title=Is all fair in biological warfare? The controversy over genetically engineered biological weapons|url=https://jme.bmj.com/content/35/7/429|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|language=en|volume=35|issue=7|pages=429–432|doi=10.1136/jme.2008.028944|issn=0306-6800|pmid=19567692|s2cid=1643086 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> John Hickman, writing in the ''European Journal of American Studies'', identifies examples of anti–East Asian racism in some of Heinlein's works, particularly ''Sixth Column''.<ref>{{cite journal | journal=European Journal of American Studies | title=Yellow Perils of Robert Heinlein | volume=16 | issue=1 | date=Spring 2021 | last=Hickman | first=John | doi=10.4000/ejas.16749 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

Heinlein summed up his attitude toward people of any race in his essay "[[Our Noble, Essential Decency]]" thus:

{{Cquote|And finally, I believe in my whole race—yellow, white, black, red, brown—in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being.}}

===Individualism and self-determination===
In keeping with his belief in [[individualism]], his work for adults—and sometimes even his work for juveniles—often portrays both the oppressors and the oppressed with considerable ambiguity. Heinlein believed that individualism was incompatible with ignorance. He believed that an appropriate level of adult competence was achieved through a wide-ranging education, whether this occurred in a classroom or not. In his juvenile novels, more than once a character looks with disdain at a student's choice of classwork, saying, "Why didn't you study something useful?"<ref>For example, recruitment officer Mr Weiss, in ''Starship Troopers'' (p. 37, New English Library: London, 1977 edition.)</ref> In ''Time Enough for Love'', [[Lazarus Long]] gives a long list of capabilities that anyone should have, concluding, "Specialization is for insects." The ability of the individual to create himself is explored in stories such as ''[[I Will Fear No Evil]]'', "{{'}}[[—All You Zombies—]]{{'}}", and "[[By His Bootstraps]]".

Heinlein claimed to have written ''Starship Troopers'' in response to "calls for the unilateral ending of nuclear testing by the United States".<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Expanded Universe'', p. 396 of Ace paperback edition.</ref> Heinlein suggests in the book that the Bugs are a good example of Communism being something that humans cannot successfully adhere to, since humans are strongly defined individuals, whereas the Bugs, being a collective, can all contribute to the whole without consideration of individual desire.<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Starship Troopers'', p. 121 of Berkley Medallion paperback edition.</ref>

===The Competent Man===
A common theme in Heinlein's writing is his frequent use of the "competent man", a [[stock character]] who exhibits a very wide range of abilities and knowledge, making him a form of [[polymath]]. This trope was notably common in 1950s U.S. science fiction.<ref>Ellen Weil and Gary K. Wolfe, ''Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever'', Ohio State University Press, 2002, p. 53. {{ISBN|978-0814208922}}</ref> While Heinlein was not the first to use such a character type, the heroes and heroines of his fiction (with [[Jubal Harshaw]] being a prime example) generally have a wide range of abilities, and one of Heinlein's characters, [[Lazarus Long]], gives a wide summary of requirements:

{{blockquote|A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
|Robert Heinlein, ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''<ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', Ace Books (paperback edition, 1988). p. 248. {{ISBN|978-0441810765}}</ref><ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[The Notebooks of Lazarus Long]]'', G.P. Putnam's Sons. (paperback edition, 1978). {{ISBN|0399122427}}</ref>}}

Predecessors of Heinlein's competent heroes include the protagonists of [[George Bernard Shaw]], like Henry Higgins in ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' and Caesar in [[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|''Caesar and Cleopatra'']], as well as the citizen soldiers in [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s "[[The Army of a Dream]]".

===Sexuality===
For Heinlein, personal liberation included [[sexual liberation]], and [[free love]] was a major subject of his writing starting in 1939, with ''For Us, the Living''. During Heinlein's early period, his writing for younger readers needed to take into account the perceptions of sexuality by editors and the buying public; as critic William H. Patterson has put it, his dilemma was "to sort out what was really objectionable from what was only excessive over-sensitivity to imaginary librarians".<ref>William H Patterson jnr's ''Introduction'' to ''The Rolling Stones'', Baen: New York, 2009 edition., p. 3.</ref>

By his middle period, sexual freedom and the elimination of sexual jealousy became a major theme; for instance, in ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'' (1961), the progressively minded but sexually conservative reporter, Ben Caxton, acts as a [[foil (literature)|dramatic foil]] for the less parochial characters, [[Jubal Harshaw]] and Valentine Michael Smith (Mike). Another of the main characters, Jill, is homophobic, and says that "nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped it's partly her own fault."<ref name="theguardian.com">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/jan/12/heinlein-hugo-stranger-strange-land |title=Robert Heinlein's softer side |first=Sam |last=Jordison |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |agency=Books Blog |date=January 12, 2009 |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714175725/http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/jan/12/heinlein-hugo-stranger-strange-land |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Gary Westfahl,

{{blockquote|Heinlein is a problematic case for feminists; on the one hand, his works often feature strong female characters and vigorous statements that women are equal to or even superior to men; but these characters and statements often reflect hopelessly stereotypical attitudes about typical female attributes. It is disconcerting, for example, that in ''Expanded Universe'' Heinlein calls for a society where all lawyers and politicians are women, essentially on the grounds that they possess a mysterious feminine practicality that men cannot duplicate.<ref>Gary Westfahl, "Superladies in Waiting: How the Female Hero Almost Emerges in Science Fiction", ''Foundation'', vol. 58, 1993, pp. 42–62.</ref>}}

In books written as early as 1956, Heinlein dealt with incest and the sexual nature of children. Many of his books including ''[[Time for the Stars]]'', ''[[Glory Road]]'', ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', and ''[[The Number of the Beast (novel)|The Number of the Beast]]'' dealt explicitly or implicitly with incest, sexual feelings and relations between adults, children, or both.<ref name="The Heinlein Society">{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/Parenting.html |title=The Heinlein Society |publisher=The Heinlein Society |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708052832/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/Parenting.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The treatment of these themes include the romantic relationship and eventual marriage of two characters in ''[[The Door into Summer]]'' who met when one was a 30-year-old engineer and the other was an 11-year-old girl, and who eventually married when time-travel rendered the girl an adult while the engineer aged minimally, or the more overt intra-familial incest in ''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]'' and ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''. Heinlein often posed situations where the nominal purpose of sexual taboos was irrelevant to a particular situation, due to future advances in technology. For example, in ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' Heinlein describes a brother and sister (Joe and Llita) who were mirror twins, being complementary diploids with entirely disjoint genomes, and thus not at increased risk for unfavorable gene duplication due to [[consanguinity]]. In this instance, Llita and Joe were props used to explore the concept of incest, where the usual objection to incest—heightened risk of genetic defect in their children—was not a consideration.<ref>Bright, Robin. "Self Begetting Ourobouros: The Science Fiction of Robert A. Heinlein". p. 167. Harvard</ref> Peers such as [[L. Sprague de Camp]] and [[Damon Knight]] have commented critically on Heinlein's portrayal of incest and pedophilia in a lighthearted and even approving manner.<ref name="The Heinlein Society"/> Diane Parkin-Speer suggests that Heinlein's intent seems more to provoke the reader and to question sexual norms than to promote any particular sexual agenda.<ref>Parkin-Speer, Diane. "Robert A. Heinlein: The Novelist as Preacher". ''Extrapolation'' 20, no. 3 (1979): 214–222.</ref>

===Philosophy===
In ''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]'', Heinlein has the main character, [[Maureen Johnson (Heinlein character)|Maureen]], state that the purpose of [[metaphysics]] is to ask questions: "Why are we here?" "Where are we going after we die?" (and so on); and that you are not allowed to answer the questions. ''Asking'' the questions is the point of metaphysics, but ''answering'' them is not, because once you answer this kind of question, you cross the line into religion. Maureen does not state a reason for this; she simply remarks that such questions are "beautiful" but lack answers. Maureen's son/lover Lazarus Long makes a related remark in ''Time Enough for Love''. In order for us to answer the "big questions" about the universe, Lazarus states at one point, it would be necessary to stand ''outside'' the universe.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Heinlein was deeply interested in [[Alfred Korzybski]]'s [[general semantics]] and attended a number of seminars on the subject. His views on [[epistemology]] seem to have flowed from that interest, and his fictional characters continue to express Korzybskian views to the very end of his writing career. Many of his stories, such as ''[[Gulf (Heinlein)|Gulf]]'', ''[[If This Goes On—]]'', and ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'', depend strongly on the premise, related to the well-known [[Linguistic relativity|Sapir–Whorf hypothesis]], that by using a correctly [[constructed language|designed language]], one can change or improve oneself mentally, or even realize untapped potential (as in the case of Joe in ''Gulf''—whose last name may be Greene, Gilead or Briggs).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/books/gulf_hc.htm|title=Gulf—Heinlein Concordance|website=www.heinleinsociety.org|access-date=May 22, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224153829/https://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/books/gulf_hc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

When [[Ayn Rand]]'s novel ''[[The Fountainhead]]'' was published, Heinlein was very favorably impressed, as quoted in "Grumbles&nbsp;..." and mentioned John Galt—the hero in Rand's ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''—as a heroic archetype in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''. He was also strongly affected by the religious philosopher [[P. D. Ouspensky]].<ref name="aolbio"/> [[Sigmund Freud|Freudianism]] and [[psychoanalysis]] were at the height of their influence during the peak of Heinlein's career, and stories such as ''[[Time for the Stars]]'' indulged in psychological theorizing.

However, he was skeptical about Freudianism, especially after a struggle with an editor who insisted on reading Freudian sexual symbolism into his [[young adult fiction|juvenile novels]]. Heinlein was fascinated by the [[social credit]] movement in the 1930s. This is shown in ''[[Beyond This Horizon]]'' and in his 1938 novel ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'', which was finally published in 2003, long after his death.

====Pay it forward====
On that theme, the phrase "[[pay it forward]]", though it was already in occasional use as a quotation, was popularized by Robert A. Heinlein in his book ''[[Between Planets]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/pay-it-forward/|title=Pay It Forward|publisher=The Heinlein Society|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318155828/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/pay-it-forward/|url-status=live}}</ref> published in 1951:

{{blockquote|The banker reached into the folds of his gown, pulled out a single credit note. "But eat first—a full belly steadies the judgment. Do me the honor of accepting this as our welcome to the newcomer."

His pride said no; his stomach said YES! Don took it and said, "Uh, thanks! That's awfully kind of you. I'll pay it back, first chance."

"Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it."}}

He referred to this in a number of other stories, although sometimes just saying to pay a debt back by helping others, as in one of his last works, ''Job, a Comedy of Justice''.

Heinlein was a mentor to [[Ray Bradbury]], giving him help and quite possibly passing on the concept, made famous by the publication of a letter from him to Heinlein thanking him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/amazingly-touching-1976-letter-from-ray-bradbury-to-rob-5840242|title=Amazingly Touching 1976 Letter from Ray Bradbury to Robert Heinlein: 'Your influence on us all cannot be measured.'|first=Charlie Jane|last=Anders|date=September 14, 2011 |publisher=[[io9]]|access-date=May 22, 2019|archive-date=September 27, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190927051417/https://io9.gizmodo.com/amazingly-touching-1976-letter-from-ray-bradbury-to-rob-5840242|url-status=live}}</ref> In Bradbury's novel ''[[Dandelion Wine]]'', published in 1957, when the main character Douglas Spaulding is reflecting on his life being saved by Mr. Jonas, the Junkman:

{{blockquote|How do I thank Mr. Jonas, he wondered, for what he's done? How do I thank him, how pay him back? No way, no way at all. You just can't pay. What then? What? Pass it on somehow, he thought, pass it on to someone else. Keep the chain moving. Look around, find someone, and pass it on. That was the only way...}}

Bradbury has also advised that writers he has helped thank him by helping other writers.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/interview-jonathan-maberry|title=Writers Helping Writers: Interview With Jonathan Maberry|last=Moss|first=Tyler|date=August 26, 2016|website=Writer's Digest|language=en-US|access-date=September 5, 2019 |archive-date=September 5, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190905151904/https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/interview-jonathan-maberry|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heinlein both preached and practiced this philosophy; now the [[#Heinlein Society|Heinlein Society]], a humanitarian organization founded in his name, does so, attributing the philosophy to its various efforts, including Heinlein for Heroes, the Heinlein Society Scholarship Program, and Heinlein Society blood drives.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/pay-it-forward/|title=Pay It Forward |publisher=The Heinlein Society|access-date=November 26, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171222055640/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/pay-it-forward/|url-status=live}}</ref> Author Spider Robinson made repeated reference to the doctrine, attributing it to his spiritual mentor Heinlein.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.heinleinsociety.org/CentennialReader/heinleinsociety.html |title= Centennial reader |publisher=Heinlein society |access-date= November 26, 2017|archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025543/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/CentennialReader/heinleinsociety.html|url-status= dead}}</ref>

==Influence and legacy==
===Honorifics===
Heinlein is usually identified, along with [[Isaac Asimov]] and [[Arthur C. Clarke]], as one of the three masters of science fiction to arise in the so-called [[Golden Age of science fiction]], associated with [[John W. Campbell]] and his magazine ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding]]''.<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Freedman
| first = Carl
| author-link = Carl Freedman (writer)
| title = Critical Theory and Science Fiction
| publisher = Wesleyan University Press
| isbn = 978-0819563996
| year =  2000
| edition = 1st
| page = 71
}}</ref>
In the 1950s he was a leader in bringing science fiction out of the low-paying and less prestigious "[[pulp magazine|pulp]] ghetto". Most of his works, including short stories, have been continuously in print in many languages since their initial appearance and are still available as new paperbacks decades after his death.

[[File:heinlein-crater.jpg|thumb|[[Heinlein crater]] on [[Mars]]]]

He was at the top of his form during, and himself helped to initiate, the trend toward [[social science fiction]], which went along with a general maturing of the genre away from [[space opera]] to a more literary approach touching on such adult issues as politics and [[human sexuality]]. In reaction to this trend, [[hard science fiction]] began to be distinguished as a separate subgenre, but paradoxically Heinlein is also considered a seminal figure in hard science fiction, due to his extensive knowledge of engineering and the careful scientific research demonstrated in his stories. Heinlein himself stated—with obvious pride—that in the days before pocket calculators, he and his wife Virginia once worked for several days on a mathematical equation describing an Earth–Mars rocket orbit, which was then subsumed in a single sentence of the novel ''Space Cadet''.

===Writing style===
Heinlein is often credited with bringing serious writing techniques to the genre of science fiction. For example, when writing about fictional worlds, previous authors were often limited by the reader's existing knowledge of a typical "space opera" setting, leading to a relatively low creativity level: The same starships, death rays, and horrifying rubbery aliens becoming ubiquitous.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} This was necessary unless the author was willing to go into long [[exposition (narrative)|expositions]] about the setting of the story, at a time when the word count was at a premium in SF.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

But Heinlein utilized a technique called "[[Exposition (narrative)#Indirect exposition/incluing|indirect exposition]]", perhaps first introduced by [[Rudyard Kipling]] in his own science fiction venture, the [[Aerial Board of Control]] stories. Kipling had picked this up during his time in [[India]], using it to avoid bogging down his stories set in India with explanations for his English readers.{{refn|1=Kipling had learned this trick in India. His original Anglo-Indian readership knew the customs and institutions and landscapes of British India at first hand. But when he began writing for a wider British and American audience, he had to provide his new readers with enough information for them to understand what was going on. In his earliest stories and verse he made liberal use of footnotes, but he evolved more subtle methods as his talent matured. A combination of outright exposition, sparingly used, and contextual clues, generously sprinkled through the narrative, offered the needed background. In ''Kim'' and other stories of India he uses King James English to indicate that characters are speaking in Hindustani; this is never explained, but it gets the message across subliminally.,<ref name=Lerner /> quoted in {{Cite web |title=Rudyard Kipling Invented SF! |website=Armed and Dangerous| date=December 2, 2005 |author=esr |url=http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 |access-date=December 29, 2022 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401060459/http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 |archive-date=April 1, 2017 }}}} This technique—mentioning details in a way that lets the reader infer more about the universe than is actually spelled out<ref>[http://rachelsimon.com/wwg_exposition_v2.php The Writer's Writing Guide: Exposition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203023707/http://rachelsimon.com/wwg_exposition_v2.php |date=December 3, 2016 }} <br />With indirect exposition, the writer gives the reader the data in subtle but clear ways, thereby allowing the reader to be a partner when it comes to laying the foundation of the story. For instance, the narrator of Mona Simpson's story "Lawns" begins by telling us: "I steal. I've stolen books and money and even letters. Letters are great. I can't tell you the feeling walking down the street with 20 dollars in my purse, stolen earrings in my pocket." With this opening, we learn about the narrator's obsession with theft but, equally important, we learn the narrator's gender. This is done indirectly, by referring to the narrator's purse and the desire for stolen earrings.</ref>—became a trademark rhetorical technique of Heinlein and writers influenced by him. Heinlein was significantly influenced by Kipling beyond this, for example quoting him in "[[On the Writing of Speculative Fiction]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/157307571/On-the-Writing-of-Speculative-Fiction-Robert-a-Heinlein|title=On the Writing of Speculative Fiction—Robert A. Heinlein—Science Fiction—Science|publisher=Scribd|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=June 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625021927/https://www.scribd.com/document/157307571/On-the-Writing-of-Speculative-Fiction-Robert-a-Heinlein|url-status=live}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[file:heinlein-competent-man-quote.jpg|thumb|right|Heinlein is famous for his use of the Competent Man as a fundamental character in his stories.]] -->
Likewise, Heinlein's name is often associated with the [[competent man|competent hero]], a character archetype who, though he or she may have flaws and limitations, is a strong, accomplished person able to overcome any soluble problem set in their path. They tend to feel confident overall, have a broad life experience and set of skills, and not give up when the going gets tough. This style influenced not only the writing style of a generation of authors, but even their personal character. [[Harlan Ellison]] said, "Very early in life when I read Robert Heinlein, I got the thread that runs through his stories—the notion of the competent man ... I've always held that as my ideal. I've tried to be a very competent man."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvaIuzLV41gC&q=competent+man+heinlein+character&pg=PA54|title=Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever|first1=Ellen|last1=Weil|first2=Gary K.|last2=Wolfe|year=2017|publisher=Ohio State University Press|isbn=978-0814208922|access-date=November 26, 2017|via=Google Books|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003205/https://books.google.com/books?id=XvaIuzLV41gC&q=competent+man+heinlein+character&pg=PA54|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Rules of writing====
{{See also|On the Writing of Speculative Fiction}}
When fellow writers, or fans, wrote Heinlein asking for writing advice, he famously gave out his own list of rules for becoming a successful writer:
# You must write.
# Finish what you start.
# You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
# You must put your story on the market.
# You must keep it on the market until it has sold.

About which he said:

{{blockquote|The above five rules really have more to do with how to write speculative fiction than anything said above them. But they are amazingly hard to follow—which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants, and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket!<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-rules-introduction/|title=Heinlein's Rules: Introduction|website=Deanwesleysmith.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120150222/http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-rules-introduction/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Heinlein later published an entire article, "[[On the Writing of Speculative Fiction]]", which included his rules, and from which the above quote is taken. When he says "anything said above them", he refers to his other guidelines. For example, he describes most stories as fitting into one of a handful of basic categories:
* The gadget story
* The human interest story
* Boy meets girl
* [[The Brave Little Tailor|The Little Tailor]]
* The man-who-learned-better

In the article, Heinlein proposes that most stories fit into either the gadget story or the human interest story, which is itself subdivided into the three latter categories. He also credits [[L. Ron Hubbard]] as having identified "The Man-Who-Learned-Better".

===Influence among writers===
Heinlein has had a pervasive influence on other science fiction writers. In a 1953 poll of leading science fiction authors, he was cited more frequently as an influence than any other modern writer.<ref>Panshin, p. 3, describing de Camp's Science Fiction Handbook</ref> Critic James Gifford writes that

{{blockquote|text=Although many other writers have exceeded Heinlein's output, few can claim to match his broad and seminal influence. Scores of science fiction writers from the prewar Golden Age through the present day loudly and enthusiastically credit Heinlein for blazing the trails of their own careers, and shaping their styles and stories.|author=Robert A. Heinlein|title=''A Reader's Companion''|source=p. xiii}}

Heinlein gave Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle extensive advice on a draft manuscript of ''[[The Mote in God's Eye]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2013 |work=The Virginia Edition: A Sample of the Series |title=Letter to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle about'' The Mote in God's Eye'' |first=Robert A. |last=Heinlein |url=http://www.virginiaedition.com/ve/TheVirginiaEdition-sample.pdf#page=23 |access-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701140830/http://www.virginiaedition.com/ve/TheVirginiaEdition-sample.pdf#page=23 |archive-date=July 1, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He contributed a cover blurb "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." In their novel ''[[Footfall]]'', Niven and Pournelle included Robert A. Heinlein as a character under the name "Bob Anson." Anson in the novel is a respected and well-known science-fiction author. Writer [[David Gerrold]], responsible for creating the tribbles in ''Star Trek'', also credited Heinlein as the inspiration for his [[The Dingilliad|''Dingilliad'']] series of novels. [[Gregory Benford]] refers to his novel ''Jupiter Project'' as a Heinlein tribute. Similarly, [[Charles Stross]] says his Hugo Award-nominated novel [[Saturn's Children (novel)|''Saturn's Children'']] is "a space opera and late-period Robert A. Heinlein tribute",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antipope.org/charlie/fiction/faq.html|title=The Charles Stross FAQ|website=Antipope.org|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125014416/http://www.antipope.org/charlie/fiction/faq.html|url-status=live}}</ref> referring to Heinlein's ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/08/interview-1.html#comment-57213 |title=Interview—Charlie's Diary |publisher=Antipope.org |date=August 27, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2012 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102074641/http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/08/interview-1.html#comment-57213 |url-status=live }}</ref> The theme and plot of Kameron Hurley's novel, ''The Light Brigade'' clearly echo those of Heinlein's ''Starship Troopers''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/28/18276076/kameron-hurley-the-light-brigade-military-science-fiction-book-review|title=The Light Brigade is a worthy successor to Starship Troopers|first=Andrew|last=Liptak|date=March 28, 2019|website=The Verge|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417002747/https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/28/18276076/kameron-hurley-the-light-brigade-military-science-fiction-book-review|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Words and phrases coined===
Even outside the science fiction community, several words and phrases coined or adopted by Heinlein have passed into common English usage:
* [[wikt:waldo|Waldo]], protagonist in the eponymous short story "[[Waldo (short story)|Waldo]]", whose name came to mean mechanical or robot arms in the real world that are akin to the ones used by the character in the story.
* [[Moonbat]]<ref>''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'', "On Language", by [[William Safire]], September 3, 2006</ref> used in [[United States politics]] as a pejorative political [[epithet]] referring to progressives or [[Left-wing politics|leftists]], was originally the name of a space ship in his story "[[Space Jockey]]".
* [[Grok]], a Martian word for understanding a thing so fully as to become one with it, from ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'', whose root meaning in Martian is "to drink".
* [[Space marine]], an existing term popularized by Heinlein in short stories, the concept then being made famous by ''[[Starship Troopers]]'', though the term "space marine" is not used in that novel.
* [[Speculative fiction]], a term Heinlein used for the separation of serious, consistent science fiction writing, from the pop "sci fi" of the day.

===Inspiring culture and technology===
In 1962, [[Oberon Zell-Ravenheart]] (then still using his birth name, Tim Zell) founded the [[Church of All Worlds]], a [[Neopagan]] religious organization modeled in many ways (including its name) after the treatment of religion in the novel ''Stranger in a Strange Land''. This spiritual path included several ideas from the book, including non-mainstream family structures, social libertarianism, water-sharing rituals, an acceptance of all religious paths by a single tradition, and the use of several terms such as "grok", "Thou art God", and "Never Thirst". Though Heinlein was neither a member nor a promoter of the Church, there was a frequent exchange of correspondence between Zell and Heinlein, and he was a paid subscriber to their magazine, ''[[Green Egg]]''. This Church still exists as a [[501(C)(3)]] religious organization incorporated in California, with membership worldwide, and it remains an active part of the neopagan community today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://original.caw.org|title=Church Of All Worlds|website=Original.caw.org|access-date=November 26, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101225339/http://original.caw.org/|archive-date=November 1, 2010}}</ref> Zell-Ravenheart's wife, [[Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart|Morning Glory]] coined the term [[polyamory]] in 1990,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://polyinthemedia.blogspot.com/2007/01/polyamory-enters-oxford-english.html|title=Polyamory in the News: "Polyamory" enters the Oxford English Dictionary, and tracking the word's origins|access-date=June 28, 2020|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003116/https://polyinthemedia.blogspot.com/2007/01/polyamory-enters-oxford-english.html|url-status=live}}</ref> another movement that includes Heinlein concepts among its roots.

Heinlein was influential in making [[space exploration]] seem to the public more like a practical possibility. His stories in publications such as ''The Saturday Evening Post'' took a matter-of-fact approach to their outer-space setting, rather than the "gee whiz" tone that had previously been common. The documentary-like film ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]'' advocated a [[Space Race]] with an unspecified foreign power almost a decade before such an idea became commonplace, and was promoted by an unprecedented publicity campaign in print publications. Many of the astronauts and others working in the U.S. space program grew up on a diet of the Heinlein [[young adult literature|juveniles]],{{Original research inline|date=October 2010}} best evidenced by the naming of a crater on Mars after him, and a tribute interspersed by the [[Apollo 15]] astronauts into their radio conversations while on the moon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Hammer and the Feather. Corrected transcript and commentary |url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.clsout3.html |work=Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=December 29, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721181824/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.clsout3.html#1675120 |archive-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref>

Heinlein was also a guest commentator (along with fellow SF author [[Arthur C. Clarke]]) for [[Walter Cronkite]]'s coverage of the [[Apollo 11]] Moon landing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PLTkYJ7C40& |title=CBS News – Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke interview with Walter Cronkite—Apollo 11 |date=October 6, 2016 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 17, 2020 |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701075028/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PLTkYJ7C40& |url-status=live }}</ref> He remarked to Cronkite during the landing that, "This is the greatest event in human history, up to this time. This is—today is New Year's Day of the Year One."<ref>{{cite book|title= Robert A. Heinlein: 1907–1948, learning curve|last= Patterson|first= William|year= 2010|publisher= Tom Doherty Associates|location= New York|isbn= 978-0765319609|page= 13|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Z93OvsN2yq8C&q=heinlein+cronkite&pg=PA13|access-date= April 12, 2011|archive-date= June 5, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210605003116/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z93OvsN2yq8C&q=heinlein+cronkite&pg=PA13|url-status= live}}</ref>

Heinlein has inspired many transformational figures in business and technology including [[Lee Felsenstein]], the designer of the first mass-produced portable computer,<ref>{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Steven |date=1984 |title=[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]] |publisher=Anchor Press/Doubleday |page=159 |isbn=0385191952}}</ref> [[Marc Andreessen]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/marc-andreessen/ |title=Marc Andreessen on Learning to Love the Humanities (Ep. 152) The real challenge to building on the frontier? Figuring out human behavior. |last=Cowen |first=Tyler |date=June 15, 2022 |website=Conversations with Tyler |publisher=The Mercatus Center at George Mason University |access-date=June 28, 2022 |quote=I'm one of the few people I know who thinks that late Robert Heinlein was better than early Robert Heinlein. That had a really big effect on me.}}</ref> co-author of the first widely-used web browser, and [[Elon Musk]], CEO of [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla]] and founder of [[SpaceX]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/the-science-fiction-books-that-inspired-elon-musk_b67209 |title=Science Fiction Books That Inspired Elon Musk |website=Media Bistro: GalleyCat |first=Jason |last=Boog |date=March 19, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516054940/http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/the-science-fiction-books-that-inspired-elon-musk_b67209 |archive-date=May 16, 2013}}</ref>

===Heinlein Society===
{{main|Heinlein Society}}
The Heinlein Society was founded by [[Virginia Heinlein]] on behalf of her husband, to "[[Pay it forward|pay forward]]" the legacy of the writer to future generations of "Heinlein's Children". The foundation has programs to:
* "Promote Heinlein blood drives."
* "Provide educational materials to educators."
* "Promote scholarly research and overall discussion of the works and ideas of Robert Anson Heinlein."

The Heinlein society also established the [[Robert A. Heinlein Award]] in 2003 "for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space".<ref name="bsfs">{{cite web|url=http://www.bsfs.org/bsfsheinlein.htm|title=BSFS's Robert A. Heinlein Award Page [Version DA-3]|publisher=[[Baltimore Science Fiction Society]]|access-date=September 21, 2011|date=September 19, 2011|archive-date=September 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924004655/http://www.bsfs.org/bsfsheinlein.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="locus-award-desc">{{cite magazine|url=http://locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Heinlein.html |title=The Locus Index to SF Awards: About the Robert A. Heinlein Award |magazine=[[Locus (magazine)|Locus Online]] |access-date=May 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025141816/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Heinlein.html |archive-date=October 25, 2012 }}</ref>

==Honors==
[[File:Robheinlein-6312.jpg|thumb|right|Orbital path of Robert Heinlein's [[eponym]]ous asteroid]]

In his lifetime, Heinlein received four [[Hugo Award]]s, for ''Double Star'', ''Starship Troopers'', ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', and ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'', and was nominated for four [[Nebula Award]]s, for ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'', ''Friday'', ''Time Enough for Love'', and ''Job: A Comedy of Justice''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NebulaNomList.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424095142/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NebulaNomList.html|url-status=dead|title=''The Locus Index to SF Awards:'' Nebula Award Nominees|archive-date=April 24, 2012}}</ref> He was also given seven Retro-Hugos: two for best novel: ''Beyond This Horizon'' and ''Farmer in the Sky''; three for best novella: ''If This Goes On...'', ''Waldo'', and ''[[The Man Who Sold the Moon]]''; one for best novelette: "The Roads Must Roll"; and one for best dramatic presentation: "Destination Moon".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1941-retro-hugo-awards/|title=1941 Retro-Hugo Awards|date=December 29, 2015|website=The Hugo Awards|language=en-US|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-date=August 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814012002/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1941-retro-hugo-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1946-retro-hugo-awards/|title=1943 Retro-Hugo Awards|date=March 30, 2018|website=The Hugo Awards|language=en-US|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164834/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1946-retro-hugo-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1951-retro-hugo-awards/|title=1951 Retro-Hugo Awards|date=July 26, 2007|website=The Hugo Awards|language=en-US|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-date=May 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164837/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1951-retro-hugo-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heinlein was also nominated for six [[Hugo Award]]s for the works ''Have Space Suit: Will Travel'', ''Glory Road'', ''Time Enough for Love'', ''Friday'', ''Job: A Comedy of Justice'' and ''Grumbles from the Grave'', as well as six [[Retro Hugo Award]]s for ''Magic, Inc.'', "Requiem", "Coventry", "Blowups Happen", "Goldfish Bowl", and "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag".

Heinlein won the [[Locus Award]] for "All-Time Favorite Author" in 1973, and for "All-Time Best Author" in 1988.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category.cgi?326+0 | title=Award Category: All-Time Favorite Author (Locus Poll Award) }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category_year.cgi?316+1988 | title=Award Category: 1988 All-Time Best Author (Locus Poll Award) }}</ref>

The [[Science Fiction Writers of America]] named Heinlein its first [[SFWA Grand Master|Grand Master]] in 1974, presented 1975. Officers and past presidents of the Association select a living writer for lifetime achievement (now annually and including [[fantasy]] literature).<ref name=SFWA/><ref name=SFAwards/>

In 1977, Heinlein  was awarded the [[Inkpot Award]],<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref> and in 1985, he was awarded the [[Eisner Awards]] "Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award".<ref name="Clampett">{{cite web | title=Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award – 1985| website=Comic-Con International | date=2024-12-04 | url=https://www.comic-con.org/awards/other/bob-clampett-humanitarian-award/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref>

[[Asteroid belt|Main-belt]] [[asteroid]] [[6312 Robheinlein]] (1990 RH4), discovered on September 14, 1990, by [[H. E. Holt]] at Palomar, was named after him.<ref>{{cite web |first=Alan |last=Chamberlin |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=6312+Robheinlein |title=SSD.jpl.nasa.gov |publisher=SSD.jpl.nasa.gov |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310005714/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=6312+Robheinlein |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1994 the [[International Astronomical Union]] named [[Heinlein (crater)|Heinlein crater]] on Mars in his honor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/marscrater.html|title=site: Robert A. Heinlein—Archives—Heinlein Crater (Mars) |publisher=www.nitrosyncretic.com|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=February 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226234128/http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/marscrater.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2415?__fsk=-1521410232|title=Heinlein Crater|website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature|access-date=November 30, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081143/https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2415?__fsk=-1521410232|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[EMP Museum#Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame|Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame]] inducted Heinlein in 1998.<ref name=sfhof-old/>

In 2001 the United States Naval Academy created the Robert A. Heinlein Chair in Aerospace Engineering.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.sfwa.org/news/heinchair.htm|title=The Robert A. Heinlein Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering |publisher=SFWA News|date=May 2, 2015|access-date=November 26, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502215018/http://archive.sfwa.org/news/heinchair.htm|archive-date=May 2, 2015}}</ref>

Heinlein was the Ghost of Honor at the 2008 [[World Science Fiction Convention]] in Denver, Colorado, which held several panels on his works. Nearly seventy years earlier, he had been a Guest of Honor at the same convention.<ref name=gazette>{{cite news |work=[[The Colorado Springs Gazette]] |title=Sci-fi writers, fans gear up for Worldcon |url= https://gazette.com/news/sci-fi-writers-fans-gear-up-for-worldcon/article_7c860219-3b98-5f0c-ac36-e119b354d36d.html |first=Bill |last=Radford |date=July 26, 2008}}</ref>

In 2016, after an intensive online campaign to win a vote for the opening, Heinlein was inducted into the [[Hall of Famous Missourians]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://house.mo.gov/News.aspx?news=true&id=613|title = Robert Heinlein to be inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians|work = Missouri House of Representatives|access-date = February 17, 2019|archive-date = February 18, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081836/https://house.mo.gov/News.aspx?news=true&id=613|url-status = live}}</ref> His bronze bust, created by Kansas City sculptor [[E. Spencer Schubert]], is on permanent display in the [[Missouri State Capitol]] in [[Jefferson City, Missouri|Jefferson City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.house.mo.gov/famous.aspx|title=Hall of Famous Missourians|website=Missouri House of Representatives|access-date=November 30, 2017|archive-date=November 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121082132/http://www.house.mo.gov/famous.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Libertarian Futurist Society has honored eight of Heinlein's novels and two short stories with their [[Prometheus Hall of Fame Award|Hall of Fame]] award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lfs.org/awards.shtml|title=Libertarian Futurist Society: Prometheus Awards|website=Lfs.org|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=May 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501021257/http://www.lfs.org/awards.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The first two were given during his lifetime for ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' and ''Stranger in a Strange Land''. Five more were awarded posthumously for ''Red Planet'', ''Methuselah's Children'', ''Time Enough for Love'', and the short stories "Requiem" and "Coventry".

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Science fiction|Children and Young Adult Literature|Libertarianism|}}
* [[Robert A. Heinlein bibliography]]
* [[Heinlein Society]]
** [[Robert A. Heinlein Award]]
** [[Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization]]
* [[Heinlein Centennial|Heinlein Centennial Convention]]
* [[List of Robert A. Heinlein characters]]
* "[[The Return of William Proxmire]]"

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="isfdb ...">
{{ISFDB name |29}} (''ISFDB''). Retrieved April 4, 2013.</ref>

<!-- some awards refs -->
<ref name=SFAwards>{{cite web|url = https://www.sfadb.com/Robert_A_Heinlein|title = Robert A. Heinlein Awards|work = Science Fiction Awards Database|publisher = Locus Science Fiction Foundation|access-date = December 18, 2019|archive-date = December 18, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191218185151/https://www.sfadb.com/Robert_A_Heinlein|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name=SFWA>
[http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701114233/http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/ |date=July 1, 2011 }}. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved March 23, 2013.</ref>
<ref name=sfhof-old>
[http://www.midamericon.org/halloffame/ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521070009/http://www.midamericon.org/halloffame/ |date=May 21, 2013 }}. Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Retrieved March 23, 2013. This was the official website of the hall of fame to 2004.</ref>
}}

==Further reading==

===Critical===
{{Refbegin}}
* Bellagamba, Ugo and Picholle, Eric. 2008. ''Solutions Non Satisfaisantes, une Anatomie de Robert A. Heinlein'' {{in lang|fr}}. Lyon, France: Les Moutons Electriques. {{ISBN|978-2915793376}}.
* [[James Blish]], writing as William Atheling, Jr. 1970. ''More Issues at Hand''. Chicago: Advent.
* [[H. Bruce Franklin]]. 1980. ''Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0195027469}}.
:: A critique of Heinlein from a Marxist perspective. Includes a biographical chapter, which incorporates some original research on Heinlein's family background.
* James Gifford. 2000. ''Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion''. Sacramento: [https://web.archive.org/web/20101010072726/http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/item-rarc.html Nitrosyncretic Press]. {{ISBN|0967987415}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0967987407}} (trade paperback).
:: A comprehensive bibliography, with roughly one page of commentary on each of Heinlein's works.
* Farah Mendlesohn (2019). ''Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein''. {{ISBN|978-1783526789}}.
* [[Alexei Panshin]]. 1968. ''Heinlein in Dimension''. Advent. {{ISBN|978-0911682014}}. {{OCLC|7535112}}.
* Patterson, William H., Jr., and Thornton, Andrew. 2001. ''The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land''. Sacramento: Nitrosyncretic Press. {{ISBN|0967987423}}.
* Powell, Jim. 2000. ''The Triumph of Liberty''. New York: Free Press. See profile of Heinlein in the chapter "Out of this World".
* [[Tom Shippey]]. 2000. "Starship Troopers, Galactic Heroes, Mercenary Princes: Ihe Military and Its Discontents in Science Fiction", in Alan Sandison and Robert Dingley, eds., ''Histories of the Future: Studies in Fact, Fantasy and Science Fiction''. New York: Palgrave. {{ISBN|0312236042}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Slusser |first=George Edgar |author-link=George Edgar Slusser |year=1977 |title=Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in His Own Land |series=The Milford Series, Vol. 1 |location=San Bernardino, CA |publisher=Borgo Press |isbn=978-0893702106 |oclc=2910839}}
* {{Cite book |last=Slusser |first=George Edgar |author-link=George Edgar Slusser |year=1977 |title=The Classic Years of Robert A. Heinlein |series=The Milford Series, Vol. 11 |location=San Bernardino, CA |publisher=Borgo Press |isbn=978-0893702168 |oclc=3186521}}
{{Refend}}

===Biographical===
{{Refbegin}}
* Heinlein, Robert A. 1980. ''[[Expanded Universe (Heinlein)|Expanded Universe]]''. New York: Ace. {{ISBN|0441218881}}.
:: Autobiographical notes are interspersed between the pieces in the anthology.
::: Reprinted by Baen, hardcover 2003, {{ISBN|0743471598}}.
::: Reprinted by Baen, paperback 2005, {{ISBN|0743499158}}.
* Heinlein, Robert A. 1989. ''Grumbles from the Grave''. New York: Del Rey.
:: Incorporates a substantial biographical sketch by Virginia Heinlein, which hews closely to his earlier official bios, omitting the same facts (the first of his three marriages, his early left-wing political activities) and repeating the same fictional anecdotes (the short story contest).
* Heinlein, Robert A. 2004. ''For Us, the Living''. New York: Scribner. {{ISBN|074325998X}}.
:: Includes an introduction by Spider Robinson, an afterword by Robert E. James with a long biography, and a shorter biographical sketch.
* [http://www.heinleinsociety.org/ The Heinlein Society] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327204806/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/ |date=March 27, 2012 }}) and their [http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/faqworks.html FAQ] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422034221/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/faqworks.html |date=April 22, 2019 }}). Retrieved May 30, 2005.
:: Contains a shorter version of the Patterson bio.
::: <!-- {{Dead link|date=October 2008}} Electronic edition available at: [http://www.webscription.net/baen/order_singles.asp?filter=Robert%20A.%20Heinlein webscription.net] (not free) -->
* {{Cite journal | author=Patterson, William H. Jr. | year=1999 | title=Robert Heinlein—A Biographical Sketch] | journal=The Heinlein Journal | volume=1999 | issue=5 | pages=7–36}} Also available at "[http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm 'Robert A. Heinlein': A Biographical Sketch]" ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010814232843/http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm |date=August 14, 2001 }}). Retrieved June 1, 2005.
:: A lengthy essay that treats Heinlein's own autobiographical statements with skepticism.
* Patterson, William H. Jr. 2010. ''Robert A. Heinlein in Dialogue with His Century: 1907–1948: Learning Curve. An Authorized Biography, Volume I''. Tom Doherty Associates. {{ISBN|0765319608}}.
* Patterson, William H. Jr. 2014. ''Robert A. Heinlein in Dialogue with His Century: 1948–1988: The Man Who Learned Better. An Authorized Biography, Volume II''. Tom Doherty Associates. {{ISBN|0765319616}}.
* Stover, Leon E. 1987. ''Robert A. Heinlein''. Boston: Twayne Publishers. {{ISBN|9780805775099}}. {{OCLC|15860299}}.
* Vicary, Elizabeth Zoe. 2000. American National Biography Online article, [https://www.anb.org/display/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1602915 "Heinlein, Robert Anson"] {{subscription required}}. {{doi|10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1602915}} Retrieved June 1, 2005.
:: Repeats many incorrect statements from Heinlein's fictionalized professional bio.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|about=no}}
{{Sister project links}}
* [http://www.heinleinsociety.org/ The Heinlein Society]
* [http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/ site:RAH]
* [http://www.heinleinarchives.net/ Heinlein Archives]
* [http://www.heinleinprize.com/ Robert & Virginia Heinlein Prize]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140707221433/http://www.heinleincentennial.com/ Centennial Celebration in Kansas City], July 7, 2007.
* [http://www.heinleinnexus.org/ Heinlein Nexus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027152219/http://www.heinleinnexus.org/ |date=October 27, 2020 }}, the community continuation of the Centennial effort.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100106154437/http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/pm652-art-hi.html 1952 ''Popular Mechanics'' tour of Heinlein's Colorado house.] accessed June 3, 2005
* [http://www.heinleinia.com/ Heinleinia.com, an interactive exploration of Heinlein's life and works]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoSnjYLw2A0 Heinlein giving the Guest of Honor speech] at the [[34th World Science Fiction Convention]], on [[YouTube]]

===Biography and criticism===
* {{sfhof |938 |Robert A. Heinlein}}
* [[Frederik Pohl]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20100816055831/http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/ Working with Robert A. Heinlein]
* [https://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-robert-a-heinlein-by-william-h-patterson-jr-1403904500 Review & biographical essay on Heinlein] by Lee Sandlin, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', June 27, 2014. "Heinlein was the best sci-fi writer of all time—and then mysteriously he became the worst."

===Bibliography and works===
{{further|Robert A. Heinlein bibliography}}
* {{ISFDB name |29}}
* {{IBList|type=author|id=113|name=Robert A. Heinlein}}
* {{OL author}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert Anson Heinlein}}
* {{IMDb name|374423}}
* Finding aid for the [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt596nd35k Robert A. and Virginia G. Heinlein Papers]

{{Heinlein (books)}}
{{Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Awards}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novel}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novella}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novelette}}
{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}
{{Future History}}
{{Starship Troopers}}
{{Social Credit}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinlein, Robert A.}}
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