James Steele Denton (July 5, 1951 – June 22, 2018) was the publisher and editor of '' World Affairs'' and the director of the World Affairs Institute in Washington, D.C. Previously Denton was the executive director of

Heldref Publications Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Ki ...

, founded by

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lon ...

and her husband Evron.

Early life

Denton was the son of Jeremiah Denton, a United States Navy Rear Admiral and U.S. Senator from Alabama, and Jane Maury. James Denton grew up on military bases and finished high school in Virginia Beach. He graduated from Elon College in 1973. He went to Officer Candidate School and served in the Navy until 1979. After employment with a travel business in Norfolk, he moved to Washington, D.C.

Career

Denton was the director the National Forum Foundation from 1984 to 1997, and executive director of

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

from 1997 to 2001. He negotiated and directed the merger of the two organizations in June 1997. He designed, developed, and implemented a portfolio of democratization programs that were active in over 30 countries, mostly in the former

communist bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. In addition, he launched a US-supported grant-making program in Eastern Europe to enhance the competence and influence of emerging human rights groups, independent media and think tanks. He was awarded the Merit of Order by the President of Romania, a special commendation from the Polish government, as well as a commendation from the Coordinating Group of the Serbian Opposition for his support of their successful effort to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic. In a consulting capacity, he has represented Lech Walesa, Viktor Orbán, and Zoran Djindjic, and has also consulted to the OSCE, ABC News, North Carolina Ballet, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Twentieth Century Foundation (Budapest), The National Democratic Institute, The Open Society Institute, and

The Claremont Institute The Claremont Institute is a Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Upland, California. The institute was founded in 1979 by four students of Harry V. Jaffa. It produces the ''Claremont Review of Books,'' ''The America ...

. From 2004 to 2006, he developed and implemented the America at a Crossroads initiative—a 20-hour nationally broadcast series of television documentaries that explored the challenges and opportunities America faces in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Denton authored, edited and published books, reports and articles on human rights, democratic development, and terrorism. He is the author of ''Grinning with the Gipper'' (Atlantic Monthly Press), which showed how

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

popularized his views with humor. He also worked as a speechwriter for

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

's presidential campaign. In November 2017 Denton received an Honorary Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Personal life

Denton married Marilyn Grisham in 1976, and they had two children. On June 22, 2018, Denton died at his home in Washington, D.C. from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

at age 66.

References

External links

Profile
at SourceWatch {{DEFAULTSORT:Denton, James S. 1951 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American naval officers American publishers (people) American speechwriters Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Elon University alumni People from Lakehurst, New Jersey People from Washington, D.C. United States Navy reservists Recipients of the Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk Military personnel from New Jersey Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.