Hanson Weightman Baldwin (March 22, 1903 – November 13, 1991) was an American journalist who was the long-time military editor of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. He won a
Pulitzer Prize "for his coverage of the early days of World War II". He wrote or edited numerous books on military topics.
Early life
Hanson Baldwin was the son of Oliver Perry and Caroline (Sutton) Baldwin. He was born in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on March 22, 1903.
He attended the
Boys' Latin School of Maryland
Boys' Latin School of Maryland is an all-boys, university-preparatory school located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1844, it is the oldest independent, nonsectarian secondary school in the state of Maryland. The school is divided into Lower, ...
in Baltimore and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1924. After three years of naval service he began his newspaper career in 1927 as a reporter for ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
''. He joined ''The New York Times'' in 1929 and wrote for them for the next forty years. In 1937 he became the paper's military analyst. That year, he spent four months in Europe reporting on the military preparedness for what was viewed as the coming war. One of his first major stories in 1938 was of the
interception of the ocean liner ''Rex'' by U.S.
B-17 Flying Fortresses, in which he personally participated.
Career
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Baldwin wrote dispatches from the South Pacific, North Africa and Europe.
His dispatches from
Guadalcanal and the Western Pacific won him the
Pulitzer Prize in 1943. His coverage of the Korean War for ''The New York Times'' has been criticized for its inaccuracy and its racism. In 1959 he broke the news of the high-altitude atomic bomb tests conducted by the United States, known as
Operation Argus
Operation Argus was a series of United States low-yield, high-altitude nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean. The tests were performed by the Defense Nucle ...
. Besides working for The Times, he lectured and wrote regularly for magazines, scholarly quarterlies and for professional military publications. His papers were given as "The Hanson W. Baldwin Collection" to the
George C. Marshall Foundation
The George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, was commissioned by President Harry S. Truman in order to preserve the papers of General George Marshall, George C. Marshall. Marshall served as Army chief of staff, secretary of state and d ...
. After his retirement he continued to write articles on military affairs for the news columns and
op-ed page of ''The'' ''New York Times''.
He authored scores of books on military and defense topics. His books published are: ''Men and Ships of Steel'' (1935), ''We Saw It Happen'' (1938), ''The Caissons Roll'' (1938), ''Admiral Dealth'' (1939), ''What the Citizen Should Know About the Navy'' (1941), ''United We Stand'' (1941), ''Strategy for Victory'' (1942), ''The Navy at War'' (1943), ''The Price of Power'' (1947), ''Great Mistakes of the War'' (1949), ''Sea fights and Shipwrecks'' (1955), ''The Great Arms Race'' (1958), ''World War I: An Outline History'' (1962), ''The New Navy'' (1964), ''Battles Lost and Won: Great Campaigns of World War II'' (1966), ''Strategy for Tomorrow'' (1970), ''The Crucial Years, 1939-1941'' (1976), and ''Tiger Jack'' (1979).
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Robert P. Patterson
Robert Porter Patterson Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as United States Under Secretary of War, Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of ...
honored war correspondents, including Baldwin, at an event in Washington, on November 23, 1946.
[
In 1962, Baldwin was secretly wiretapped in a precursor to ]Project Mockingbird
Project Mockingbird was a wiretapping operation initiated by United States President John F. Kennedy to identify the sources of government leaks by eavesdropping on the communications of journalists.
History
In October 2001, the Miller Center o ...
.American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
in 1969. He also received honorary degrees from Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States.
His ...
and the Clarkson Institute of Technology.
Personal life
In 1931 he married Helen Bruce Baldwin (1907–1994) of Urbana, Ohio
Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is the burial place ...
.Chappaqua
Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Met ...
, New York.
Baldwin died in Roxbury, Connecticut
Roxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,260 at the 2020 census. The town is located northeast of New York City.
History
Roxbury, whose Native name was ''Shepaug'', a Mahican word signifying "roc ...
on November 13, 1991.
References
Further reading
* Robert B. Davies. ''Baldwin of the Times: Hanson W. Baldwin, a Military Journalist's Life, 1903–1991'' (Naval Institute Press; 2012), 399 pages
External links
Hanson W. Baldwin Papers
at Syracuse University
* Baldwin, Hanson Weightman
Tiger Jack
MSS SC 1589; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library
The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gr ...
, Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
.
''United We Stand!'' Manuscript
at Dartmouth College Library
* Hanson Weightman Baldwin Papers (MS 54). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Hanson
1903 births
1991 deaths
20th-century American non-fiction writers
People from Chappaqua, New York
The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners
Writers from Baltimore