Joseph A. Loftus (1907 – January 3, 1990) was a 20th-century American reporter for ''
The New York Times'' who covered unions, like the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, extensively and later worked as a communications assistant to
George P. Shultz at the
U.S. Department of Labor and
U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
.
[
]
Background
Joseph A. Loftus was born in
Scranton, Pennsylvania, and had one brother and three sisters. In 1928, he graduated from the
University of Scranton with a bachelor's degree. While a student, he worked the ''
Scranton Tribune
''The Scranton Times-Tribune'' is a morning newspaper serving the Scranton, Pennsylvania, area. It is the flagship title of Times-Shamrock Communications and has been run by three generations of the Lynett-Haggerty family. On Sundays, the paper ...
'' and the
International News Service. In 1931, he obtained a degree from the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Career
Journalism
In 1936, Loftus moved to Washington, DC to work for the
Associated Press as a journalist.
Tackling politics, economics and labor for the Washington Bureau, he began working at ''The New York Times'' in 1944.
His coverage included the downfall of
Ware Group member of
Progressive Party Lee Pressman
Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group), following hi ...
in February 1948. He covered union news extensively, like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In 1954, he appeared as a talk show panelist on ''
Longines Chronoscope''.
[
] In the late '50s he covered the James Hoffa / Teamsters Union hearings and through that assignment met Robert Kennedy. Through Kennedy as a professional and personal friend he met the older brother Jack. In the spring of 1960 the NY Times made Loftus the reporter for Kennedy's campaign and then traveled the country with the candidate up through the election. Afterwards the NYTs made Loftus the White House reporter which he then covered through the assassination and into the Johnson administration. In 1969, he resigned from the paper.
Government
In 1969, Loftus became a communications specialist to
Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...
George P. Shultz as part of the presidential administration of the newly elected
Richard Nixon.
Loftus moved with Shultz to the Treasury Department.
Awards
He was awarded the first
Louis Stark scholarship as a
Nieman Fellow to
Harvard University in 1960.
Personal life and death
Loftus married twice, both wives were named Mary and he had two daughters with his first wife.
He moved to
Sarasota, Florida, in 1983.
On January 3, 1990, at age 82, he died at home after a series of strokes.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, Joseph A.
1907 births
1990 deaths
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
American telecommunications industry businesspeople
University of Scranton alumni
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni