James Campbell Hagerty (May 9, 1909April 11, 1981) served as the eighth White House Press Secretary from 1953 to 1961 during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was known for providing much more detail on the lifestyle of the president than previous press secretaries; for example, he covered in great detail Eisenhower's medical condition. Most of the time, he handled routine affairs such as daily reports on presidential activities, defending presidential policies, and assisting diplomatic visitors. He handled embarrassing episodes, such as those related to the Soviet downing of an American spy plane, the U-2 in 1960. He handled press relations on Eisenhower's international trips, sometimes taking the blame from a hostile foreign press. Eisenhower often relied upon him for advice about public opinion, and how to phrase complex issues. Hagerty had a reputation for supporting civil rights initiatives.

Early life

After his Irish Catholic family moved to New York when he was 3 years old, James Hagerty attended

Evander Childs High School Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, before enrolling in and graduating from

Blair Academy Blair Academy is a coeducational, boarding and day school for students in high school. The school serves students from ninth through twelfth grades as well as a small post-graduate class. The school's campus is located on a campus in Blairs ...

, which he attended for his last two years in high school. He graduated from Columbia College in 1934, and work as a reporter for ''

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 ...

''.

Political career

He became the press secretary to Governor of New York

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

in 1943, and handled Dewey's presidential campaigns in 1944 and in 1948. He was in charge of candidate Eisenhower's press office in the 1952 campaign, leading to his appointment as Press Secretary in January 1953. He introduced television cameras to press conferences in 1955. He occasionally handled political assignments from Eisenhower, such as liaison with the Senate.

"Haggerty Incident"

In 1960, Hagerty was at the center of a major diplomatic incident between the United States and Japan. On June 10, Hagerty arrived at Tokyo's

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

to make advance preparations for a planned visit to Japan by Eisenhower that was scheduled for later that month. Hagerty was picked up in a black car by US Ambassador to Japan

Douglas MacArthur II Douglas MacArthur II (July 5, 1909 – November 15, 1997) was an American diplomat. During his diplomatic career, he served as United States ambassador to Japan, Belgium, Austria, and Iran, as well as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative ...

(the nephew of the famous general), but as the car left the airport it was surrounded by 6,000 Japanese protesters protesting the revision of the

U.S.-Japan Security Treaty The , more commonly known as the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in English and as the or just in Japanese, is a treaty that permits the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, and commits the two nations to defend each other if one or th ...

as part of the broader 1960 Anpo protests. The protesters surrounded the car, rocking it back and forth for more than an hour while cracking its windows, smashing its tail lights, standing on its roof, and chanting anti-American slogans and singing protest songs. Ultimately, MacArthur and Hagerty had to be rescued by a

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

military helicopter, creating indelible imagery of the so-called that was transmitted by newswires around the world. The Hagerty Incident shocked much of the Japanese public, insofar as it was seen as a grave discourtesy to a foreign guest, and contributed to the cancellation of Eisenhower's visit, for fear that his safety could not be guaranteed, as well as the forced resignation of Japanese prime minister

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Known for his exploitative rule of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China in the 1930s, Kishi was nicknamed the "Monster of the Shō ...

shortly thereafter.

Television work

Hagerty appeared as a mystery challenger on the March 10, 1957, and panelist on the June 23, 1957 episodes of ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' After Eisenhower left office in January 1961, Hagerty became a vice president of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television network, serving from 1961–1975.

Quotes

"If you lose your temper at a newspaper columnist, he'll get rich or famous or both."

References

External links

Papers of James C. Hagerty, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagerty, James Campbell 1909 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American writers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Blair Academy alumni Eisenhower administration personnel The New York Times writers White House Press Secretaries Columbia College (New York) alumni New York (state) Republicans