Stewart Johonnot Oliver Alsop (May 17, 1914 – May 26, 1974) was an American newspaper columnist and political analyst.

Early life

Alsop was born and raised in

Avon, Connecticut Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 18,932. History Avon was settled in 1645 and was originally a part of neighboring Farmington. ...

, from an old

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...

family. Alsop attended

Groton School Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

. His parents were

Joseph Wright Alsop IV Joseph Wright Alsop IV (April 2, 1876 – March 17, 1953) was an American politician and father of Joseph Wright Alsop V and Stewart Alsop. He served in the Connecticut General Assembly and ran for Congress on the Bull Moose Party ticket. Earl ...

(1876–1953) and Corinne Douglas Robinson (1886–1971). Through his mother, he was a grandnephew of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Early career

After graduating from Yale in 1936, Alsop moved to New York City, where he worked as an editor for the publishing house of

Doubleday, Doran Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

World War II

After the United States entered

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Alsop joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

because his

high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

precluded his joining the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. On June 20, 1944, Alsop married Patricia Barnard "Tish" Hankey (1926-2012), an Englishwoman. A month after the wedding, Alsop was allowed to transfer to the US Army, and he was immediately sent on a mission planned by the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS). For the mission, Alsop was parachuted into the

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to aid the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. Alsop was later awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

with Palm for his work on that and other wartime missions. Alsop worked with and for the OSS for the rest of the war.

Journalism

From 1945 to 1958, Stewart Alsop was co-writer, with his brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

, of the thrice-weekly "Matter of Fact" column for the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''. Stewart usually stayed in Washington and covered domestic politics, and Joseph traveled the world to cover foreign affairs. In 1958, the Alsops described themselves as "Republicans by inheritance and registration, and... conservatives by political conviction." After the Alsop brothers ended their partnership, Stewart went on to write articles and a regular column for the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' until 1968 and then a weekly column for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' from 1968 to 1974. He published several books, including a "sort of memoir" of his battle with an unusual form of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, ''Stay of Execution''. He wrote, "A dying man wants to die like a sleepy man wants to sleep." At the end of his battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, he requested that he be given something other than

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

to numb the pain because he was tired of its sedative effect. His doctor suggested

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...

Family

On June 20, 1944, Alsop married Patricia Barnard "Tish" Hankey (1926-2012), whom he met while training in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where she lived. Together, they had six children: Joseph Wright Alsop VI; Ian; Elizabeth Winthrop, a children's book author; Stewart Alsop Jr., an investor and pundit; Richard Nicholas, a Curriculum Coordinator at Josh McDowell Ministry; and Andrew Alsop.

Legacy

Alsop is interred at the

Indian Hill Cemetery Indian Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 383 Washington Street in Middletown, Connecticut on a hill adjacent to Wesleyan University. History The hill was originally named "''Wunne Wah Jet''" by the indigenous Wangunk people ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its ...

. In Alsop's hometown of Avon, Connecticut, there is a public park that is named Alsop Meadows in his honor.

Bibliography

* ''Sub Rosa : The O.S.S. and American Espionage'' (1946, with

Thomas Braden Thomas Wardell Braden (February 22, 1917 – April 3, 2009) was an American CIA official, journalist (best remembered as the author of ''Eight Is Enough'', which spawned a television program), and co-host of the CNN show ''Crossfire''. Inte ...

) * ''We Accuse! The Story of the Miscarriage of American Justice in the Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' (1954, with Joseph Alsop) * ''The Reporter's Trade'' (1958, with Joseph Alsop) * ''Nixon & Rockefeller : A Double Portrait'' (1960) * ''The Center : People and Power in Political Washington'' (1968) * ''Stay of Execution : A Sort of Memoir'' (1973)

References

Sources

* Joseph W. Alsop, with Adam Platt, ''"I've Seen the Best of It": Memoirs'' (NY: W.W. Norton, 1992) * Herken, Gregg. ''The Georgetown Set: Friends and Rivals in Cold War Washington'' (2014), covers both brothers

* Yoder, Jr., Edwin M. ''Joe Alsop's Cold War: A Study of Journalistic Influence and Intrigue'' (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995)

External links

Oral History Interview with Stewart Alsop, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library''Booknotes'' interview with Robert Merry on ''Taking on the World: Joseph and Stewart Alsop - Guardians of the American Century'', March 24, 1996.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alsop, Stewart 1914 births 1974 deaths Burials at Indian Hill Cemetery People from Avon, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Writers from Connecticut Roosevelt family American columnists Bulloch family Schuyler family People of the Office of Strategic Services Connecticut Republicans Washington, D.C., Republicans 20th-century American male writers British Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) United States Army soldiers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Alsop family