John Bartlow Martin (4 August 1915, in Hamilton, Ohio – 3 January 1987, in Highland Park, Illinois) was an American diplomat, author of 15 books, ambassador, and speechwriter and confidant to many Democratic politicians including Adlai Stevenson,

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, and

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Early life

Martin was born in Hamilton, Ohio to John, a carpenter and contractor, and Laura Bartlow Martin, and as a young child moved to Indianapolis. Martin grew up in an unhappy childhood, plagued by the death of his two brothers. He graduated from high school at age 16 and was expelled in his first year from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

, but he later graduated there with a degree in journalism.

Journalism

With the impact of his dark childhood and onset of the Great Depression, Martin's early journalism career focused on deep concern for the underprivileged and forgotten, such as criminals, the impoverished, the working class, and the mentally ill. His work appeared in such publications as '' Saturday Evening Post'', ''

LIFE Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', '' Colliers'', '' Atlantic Monthly'', and '' Harper's''. He won the highest magazine writing honor, the Benjamin Franklin Magazine Award, for four consecutive years. A true crime article Martin wrote, "Smashing the Bookie Gang Marauders" was made into the successful 1949 movie '' Scene of the Crime''. It was the only movie based on his work.

Political career

Martin was hired in 1952 as a speechwriter by Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, and later worked on the Kennedy presidential campaign. Martin was sent by Kennedy on a fact-finding mission to the Dominican Republic after the assassination of the dictator Rafael Trujillo in May 1961, and delivered his report in September. In gratitude for his analysis, he became the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, serving from 9 March 1962 to 25 September 1963. As Ambassador, Martin was a critic of the new president, Juan Bosch. According to the historian Stephen G. Rabe, Martin "fancied himself a Roman consul whose word should be law in the Dominican Republic." Martin resigned shortly after the

Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

, on the day in which Bosch was toppled in a coup d'etat, but returned to the Dominican Republic as a

special envoy Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

in 1965 during the invasion dispatched by Johnson.

Death and legacy

He died in Highland Park, Illinois in 1987 of

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. In 2008, The Library of America selected his story "Butcher's Dozen" for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime.

Selected bibliography

* ''Adlai Stevenson of Illinois'' (828 pages), Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1976. * ''Adlai Stevenson and the World'' (946 pages), Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1977. * ''Break Down the Walls'' (310 pages), Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1954 ; an account of the 1952 riots in the State Prison of Southern Michigan at Jackson

References

External links

John Bartlow Martin, 71, Author and Envoy, Dies
(''New York Times'')
Martin, John Bartlow
(''Harper's Magazine'')
John Bartlow Martin Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, John Bartlow 1915 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Ambassadors of the United States to the Dominican Republic American male journalists Deaths from cancer in Illinois Deaths from esophageal cancer DePauw University alumni Journalists from Ohio People from Hamilton, Ohio Writers from Indianapolis Writers from Ohio 20th-century American journalists