Charles Peters
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Charles Peters (born December 22, 1926) is an American journalist, editor, and author. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of the ''
Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...
'' magazine and the author of ''We Do Our Part: Toward A Fairer and More Equal America'' (
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, 2017). Writing in ''
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 d ...
'', Jonathan Martin called the book a “well timed … ''cri de coeur''” and “a desperate plea to his country and party to resist the temptations of greed, materialism and elitism.”


Early life and education

Charles Peters was born in December 1926 in Charleston,
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. He attended public schools, graduating from Charleston High School in 1944. He enlisted in the
U.S. 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, cl ...
in 1944, serving at
Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...
,
Camp Atterbury Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logi ...
in
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, and
Fort McClellan Fort McClellan, originally Camp McClellan, is a decommissioned United States Army post located adjacent to the city of Anniston, Alabama. During World War II, it was one of the largest U.S. Army installations, training an estimated half-million tr ...
,
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, where an injury in a training accident resulted in his being in Army hospitals for several months, and his discharge from the Army in 1946. In 1946, he went to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to enter Columbia College. After receiving his BA in 1949, he entered graduate school at Columbia and received his MA. in 1951. In 1952–53, he worked for the
J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...
advertising agency in New York. During the summers from 1946 through 1954, he performed various backstage roles at summer theaters in
Boylston Boylston may refer to the following communities: ;Canada * Boylston, Nova Scotia ;United States * Boylston, Massachusetts * Boylston, New York * Boylston, Wisconsin * Boylston Junction, Wisconsin It may also refer to: * Helen Dore Boylston, au ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
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,
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, and Newport,
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, and had his own
repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
company in Charleston, West Virginia. Peters entered the University of Virginia School of Law in 1954. He was named to the editorial board of the
Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revie ...
in 1955, serving until his graduation with a JD in 1957.


Early career

After law school, he married Elizabeth Hubbell, a former ballet dancer who had attended
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, and returned to Charleston to practice law with his father's firm, Peters, Merricks, Leslie and Mohler. His practice included libel, criminal defense, corporate and labor law, as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in civil trials. In 1959, he was named chief staff officer of the Judiciary Committee of the
West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...
, and in 1960, he was elected a member of the House. In 1960, he also managed the primary and general election campaigns in Kanawha County for presidential candidate
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 ...
. After serving in the 1961 session of the legislature, he went to
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, to help start the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
. After returning to serve in the 1962 legislative session, he was named the Peace Corps’ director of evaluation, a position that required him to report on the performance of the agency's programs overseas and on how they could be improved.


Founding of the ''Washington Monthly''

In 1968, Peters resigned from the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
to begin planning a new magazine to be called the ''
Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...
''. The magazine's prospectus said its purpose would be “to look at Washington the way an anthropologist looks at a South Sea island,” helping the reader understand our system of politics and government, where it breaks down, why it breaks down, and what can be done to make it work.” The first issue was published in January 1969. Its articles included “The White House Staff vs. the Cabinet,” “What Happens to a Senator’s Day,” and “The Data Game.” Among the authors were such journalists as
David Broder David Salzer Broder (September 11, 1929March 9, 2011) was an American journalist, writing for ''The Washington Post'' for over 40 years. He was also an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer. For more than half a century ...
, Murray Kempton,
Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...
, and
Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born 5 December 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts ...
, as well as people who had worked in government, such as Peters, former
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
aide
Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...
, and former
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
aide James Boyd. A similar mix of authors would continue to write for the magazine, but beginning in 1970, the magazine became largely the product of young unknowns, who would typically serve as writer-editors for two years. Among them were
Taylor Branch Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
, Suzannah Lessard,
James Fallows James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in '' Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Boo ...
, Walter Shapiro,
Michael Kinsley Michael E. Kinsley (born March 9, 1951) is an American political journalist and commentator. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on ''Crossfire''. Early life and e ...
,
David Ignatius David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including '' Body of Lies'', which director Ridley Scott adapt ...
,
Nicholas Lemann Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is an American writer and academic, the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has be ...
, Gregg Easterbrook,
Mickey Kaus Robert Michael "Mickey" Kaus (; born July 6, 1951) is an American journalist, pundit, and author, known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on ''Slate'' until 2010. Kaus is the author of ''The End of Equality'' and ...
,
Joe Nocera Joseph Nocera (born May 6, 1952) is an American business journalist, and author. He has written for The New York Times since April 2005, writing for the Op-Ed page from 2011 to 2015. He was also an opinion columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Early ...
,
Jonathan Alter Jonathan H. Alter (born October 6, 1957) is a liberal American journalist, best-selling author, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and television producer who was a columnist and senior editor for ''Newsweek'' magazine from 1983 until 2011. Alt ...
,
Timothy Noah Timothy Robert Noah (born 1958), an American journalist and author, is a staff writer at ''The New Republic.'' Previously he was labor policy editor for ''Politico'', a contributing writer at MSNBC.com, a senior editor of ''The New Republic'' ass ...
, Steve Waldman, Matt Cooper, Jason DeParle, James Bennet,
Katherine Boo Katherine "Kate" J. Boo (born August 12, 1964) is an American investigative journalist who has documented the lives of people in poverty. She has won the MacArthur "genius" award (2002) and the National Book Award for Nonfiction (2012), and her wo ...
, and
Jon Meacham Jon Ellis Meacham (; born May 20, 1969) is an American writer, reviewer, historian and presidential biographer who is serving as the current Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral since November 7, 2021. A former executive editor ...
. One author characterizes Peters and the magazine as important influences on radical centrist political thought. Peters served as editor of the ''Washington Monthly'' until he retired in 2001, but continued to write a regular column ''Tilting at Windmills'' for the magazine until 2014.
Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...
, in an interview in the alumni magazine ''Columbia College Today'', called Peters “a great editor in an age that’s not producing great editors.”


Founding of Understanding Government

In 1998, he founded a non-profit organization called Understanding Government with the purpose of improving press coverage of the executive branch of government. Understanding Government sponsored the first-ever Prize for Preventive Journalism, given in 2008 to journalist Michael Grunwald, and has published reports on federal agencies including the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peters retired from the nonprofit in 2012, and it ceased operations in 2014.


Books

;Author: *''We Do Our Part: Toward a Fairer and More Equal America'' *''Lyndon B. Johnson'' *''Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing 'We Want Willkie!' Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World'' *''How Washington Really Works'' *''Tilting At Windmills: An Autobiography'' ;Co-editor: *''Blowing the Whistle'' (with Taylor Branch) *''The System'' (with James Fallows) *''The Culture of Bureaucracy'' (with Michael Nelson) *''A New Road for America: the Neoliberal Movement'' (with Phil Keisling) *''Inside the System'' (with Timothy Adams – first ed.; with John Rothchild – second ed.; with James Fallows – third ed.; with Nicholas Lemann – fourth ed.; with Jonathan Alter – fifth ed.)


Articles


''A Neoliberal's Manifesto''


Awards

Peters was named the recipient of the first Richard M. Clurman Award in 1996 for his work mentoring young journalists. He also received the Columbia Journalism Award in 1978 and was a Poynter Fellow at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1980, the Delacorte Lecturer at the
Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
in 1990 and 2003 and visiting fellow at the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, an ...
at Stanford University in 1994. In 2001, he was elected to the Hall of Fame of the
American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ...
and the Hall of Fame of the D.C. Society of Professional Journalists. In 2002 he was the Times Mirror David M. Laventhol Visiting Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. In 2003, he received the
Carr Van Anda Carr Vattal Van Anda (December 2, 1864 – January 29, 1945) was the managing editor of ''The New York Times'' under Adolph Ochs, from 1904 to 1932. Biography Van Anda was born in Georgetown, Ohio to Frederick Van Anda and Mariah Davis. He m ...
Award from the
E. W. Scripps School of Journalism The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism is part of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. Founded in 1924, the school has been recognized by The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report for excellence in instruction and re ...
,
Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...
. He was a Public Scholar at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...
, September 2002 through April 2003.


References


External links

*
Tilting at Windmills listing
'
''Understanding Government bio''''How Washington Really Works''
(documentary about Charles Peters and the Washington Monthly) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Charles 1926 births Living people American biographers American columnists American male journalists American magazine editors American political writers Charleston High School (West Virginia) alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Journalists from West Virginia Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia Radical centrist writers United States Army soldiers University of Virginia School of Law alumni West Virginia Democrats West Virginia lawyers Writers from Charleston, West Virginia American male biographers United States Army personnel of World War II