Arthur Krock
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Arthur Bernard Krock (November 16, 1886 – April 12, 1974) was a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winning American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
. In a career spanning several decades covering the tenure of eleven United States presidents he became known as the "Dean of Washington newsmen".


Early life and career

Arthur Krock was born in
Glasgow, Kentucky Glasgow is a home rule-class city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Glasgow is the principal city of the Glasgow micropolitan area, which comprises Barren and Metcalfe counties. The population was 14,028 ...
in 1887. He was the son of German-Jewish bookkeeper Joseph Krock and Caroline Morris, who was half-Jewish. His mother became blind subsequent to his birth and Krock was raised by his grandparents, Emmanuel and Henrietta Morris until he was six years old. When his mother regained her sight, he joined his parents in Chicago, graduating from high school there in 1904. Krock went on to
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
but dropped out in his first year owing to financial problems. He returned home, and in 1906 graduated with an associate degree from the
Lewis Institute Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
in Chicago.


Journalism

Krock began his career in
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
with the ''
Louisville Herald ''The Louisville Herald-Post'' was a newspaper that was published in Louisville, Kentucky. Origins ''The Herald-Post'' was created in 1925 from the merging of the old ''Louisville Herald'' and '' Louisville Post'' newspapers. Louisville financi ...
'', then went to Washington as a
correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
for the ''
Louisville Times ''The Louisville Times'' was a newspaper that was published in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1884 by Walter N. Haldeman, as the afternoon counterpart to ''The Courier-Journal'', the dominant morning newspaper in Louisville and the common ...
'' and ''
Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...
''. In 1927, he joined ''
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 ...
'' and soon became its Washington correspondent and bureau chief. His column, "In the Nation", was noted for its opinions on public policy. For example, amid the Hiss
Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...
and Coplon spy cases and the investigation of David E. Lilienthal's management of the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...
, Krock observed:
The persons whose names have entered the trials and investigations, fairly and unfairly, include none who was affiliated with the Republican party ... The ideal solution from the standpoint of these strategists
resident Truman's Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Residency (pharmacy), Resident (pharmacy), a stage of post ...
would be: (1) the acquittal of Hiss ... (2) a find by the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy that Lilienthal has been a good manager ... (3) repudiation by public opinion of the more sensational testimony before the third Un-American Committee; (4) at least one substantial trial victory for the Department of Justice. This is a large order. But the deep-thinking Democratic politicos think there is a good chance for it.
Despite his stature, according to historian
David Nasaw David Nasaw (born July 18, 1945) is an American author, biographer and historian who specializes in the cultural, social and business history of early 20th Century America. Nasaw is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of ...
, from the earliest days of their friendship in Washington beginning in the mid-1930s, Krock became so staunch an advocate of
Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
and his ambitions that he seemed to be all but in the pocket of the powerful millionaire (with one son who would later be U.S. president and two others who would contend for that office). Citing the correspondence between the two men in his authorized, yet highly researched and critically acclaimed, 2012 biography of Joe Kennedy, Professor Nasaw chronicles how it "reveals something quite disturbing, if not corrupt, about Krock's willingness to do Kennedy's bidding, to advise him or write a speech for him, then praise it in his column ..." Less than two months before the assassination of Joe Kennedy's son, President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
, in his October 3, 1963 ''New York Times'' column titled "The Intra-Administration War in Vietnam", Krock quoted a high-ranking official in the government as saying:
The CIA's growth was 'likened to a malignancy' which the 'very high official was not even sure the White House could control ... any longer.' 'If the United States ever experiences n attempted coup to overthrow the Governmentit will come from the CIA and not the Pentagon. The agency 'represents a tremendous power and total unaccountability to anyone.'


Awards

Over his 60-year career, Krock won three
Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...
: *1935
Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence {{Pulitzer The Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence was awarded from 1929 to 1947. Winners *1929: Paul Scott Mowrer of the ''Chicago Daily News'', for his coverage of international affairs including the Franco-British Naval Pact and Germany's campaig ...
, for his Washington dispatches"Correspondence"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
*1938 Prize for Correspondence, for "his exclusive authorized interview with the President of the United States on February 27, 1937." *1951 Special Citation of his exclusive interview with President Truman"Special Citations and Awards"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
The organization now explains the special Pulitzer thus: "The Advisory Board on the Pulitzer Prizes as a policy does not make any award to an individual member of the Board. In 1951, the Board decided that the outstanding instance of National Reporting done in 1950 was the exclusive interview with President Truman obtained by Arthur Krock of ''The New York Times'', while Mr. Krock was a Board member. The Board therefore made no award in the National Reporting category." He was awarded a French citation for his coverage of the
Versailles Peace Conference The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
. On April 22, 1970, he was presented with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
by President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
.


Personal life

He was married twice, first to Marguerite Polleys, daughter of a Minneapolis railroad official, from 1911 to her death following a long illness in 1938. They had one son, Thomas, who, during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, was one of a handful of Americans who fought in the war on the side of
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
. {{cite book , last=Thomas , first=Hugh , title=The Spanish Civil War , year=2012 , publisher=The Modern Library , location=New York, NY , isbn=0375755152 , pages= /page/939n5] In 1939, he wed Martha Granger Blair of Chicago, a divorced society columnist for the ''
Washington Times-Herald The ''Washington Times-Herald'' (1939–1954) was an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It was created by Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson of the Medill–McCormick–Patterson family (long-time owners of the ''Chicago Tribune'' ...
'', who had two sons.{{cite news , last=Belair , first=Felix, Jr. , title=Arthur Krock of the Times is Dead at 86 , url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/04/13/79326606.pdf , accessdate=2013-03-24 , newspaper=The New York Times , date=April 13, 1974


References

{{Reflist, 25em


External links


Arthur Krock Papers
at the Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University *{{cite book , title=Encyclopedia of Kentucky , publisher=Somerset Publishers , location=New York, NY , year=1987 , isbn=0-403-09981-1 , pages=152–53 *{{cite encyclopedia, title=Krock, Arthur, encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Louisville, year=2001
Search Arthur Krock
at The Pulitzer Prizes
"Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eight Journalists"
by Richard Nixon (April 22, 1970) at The American Presidency Project * {{LCAuth, n50045980, Arthur Krock, 9} {{PulitzerPrize SpecialCitations Journalism {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Krock, Arthur 1886 births 1974 deaths American columnists American newspaper reporters and correspondents The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence winners Pulitzer Prize winners for journalism People from Glasgow, Kentucky Writers from Louisville, Kentucky American people of German-Jewish descent Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients