Thomas Nolan Schroth (December 21, 1920 – July 23, 2009) was an American journalist who specialized in coverage of

inside the Beltway "Inside the Beltway" is an American idiom used to characterize matters that are, or seem to be, important primarily to officials of the U.S. federal government, to its contractors and lobbyists, and to the media personnel who cover them – as opp ...

politics as editor of ''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

'' starting in 1955 and then establishing ''

The National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...

'' in 1969 after he was fired from ''CQ'' due to policy conflicts.

Early life and career

Schroth was born on December 21, 1920, in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784."Thomas N. Schroth"
''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'', July 25, 2009. Accessed August 5, 2009. His father,

Frank D. Schroth Frank D. Schroth (October 18, 1884 – June 10, 1974) was an American newspaper publisher who owned and operated the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' from 1938 until its demise in 1955 after a strike by The Newspaper Guild. Life and career Schroth was born ...

, was publisher of the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

''.Weber, Bruce
"Thomas N. Schroth, Influential Washington Editor, Is Dead at 88"
''

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 ...

'', August 4, 2009. Accessed August 5, 2009. He attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

immediately after his graduation and served for three years during

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Staff
"COLETTE STREIT WED TO THOMAS SCHROTH"
''

'', May 2, 1948. Accessed August 5, 2009. He had started his career as a reporter at ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine and ''

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

''. He joined his father as a reporter at the ''Brooklyn Eagle'', and was on its staff until its demise in 1955 in the wake of a strike by

The Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practices ...

, having served as the paper's managing editor in the last three years of its existence.Via ''

''
"Schroth Heads Quarterly"
''

'', October 30, 1955. Accessed August 5, 2009. Following the paper's final issue on January 29, negotiations in June coordinated by Schroth to sell the name and associated goodwill of the Eagle to the publishers of ''The Brooklyn Daily'' were unsuccessful. He was elected in October 1955 as executive editor and vice president of ''Congressional Quarterly'', a publication established in 1945 by

Nelson Poynter Nelson Poynter (1903–1978) was an American publisher and media proprietor. He was the owner of the Times Publishing Company, and the co-founder of the ''Congressional Quarterly''. He is the namesake of the Poynter Institute. Early life Poynter ...

, publisher of the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

''. Schroth built the publication's impartial coverage of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, with annual revenue growing during his tenure from $150,000 when he started to $1.8 million. In addition to adding a book division, Schroth added many staff members who achieved future journalistic success, including David S. Broder and

Elizabeth Drew Elizabeth Drew (born November 16, 1935) is an American political journalist and author. Early life Elizabeth Brenner was born on November 16, 1935, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the daughter of William J. Brenner, a furniture manufacturer, and Es ...

. He was fired from the ''Congressional Quarterly'' in 1969 after festering disagreements with Poynter over editorial policy at the publication and Schroth's efforts to advocate "more imaginative ways of doing things" reached a boil. Shortly after his termination he established ''The National Journal'', a publication covering high-level policymaking in

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, ...

, with many of his employees at ''CQ'' coming over to join him at the Journal. Schroth resigned on February 3, 1970, from his post as editor at ''The National Journal'' and as director of the Center for Political Research, and was succeeded by Cliff Sessions who had been the publication's managing editor. He moved to Maine in 1972, where he became executive editor for five years of ''

The Ellsworth American ''The Ellsworth American'' is a local weekly newspaper covering Hancock County, Maine. Overview ''The Ellsworth American'' is a locally owned and managed weekly newspaper serving Hancock County, Maine. Publication began Oct. 17, 1851,"In the Begi ...

'', a newspaper published by his father-in-law. He left to publish ''Maine Life'', a magazine he started with his wife in 1977 and ran for six years.

Personal

His first marriage, in May 1948, to the former Colette Streit, ended in divorce. He married his second wife, the former Patricia Wiggins, in September 1958. She was a reporter for ''United Press International'' and the daughter of James Russell Wiggins, who was managing editor of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' at the time of his marriage and later served as

United States Ambassador to the United Nations The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations ...

.Staff
"Patricia Wiggins Bride in Capital Of T. N. Schroth; Daughter of Editor of Washington Post Wed to Journalist There"
''

'', September 28, 1958. Accessed August 5, 2009. After moving to Maine, Schroth became active in the

Maine Democratic Party The Maine Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Maine. After the Civil War, Democrats were a minor player in a political scene dominated by the Republican Party. However, during the 1950s, Edmund Muskie ...

, including service on the Maine State Democratic Committee. He was elected as a selectman in Sedgwick, serving in office from 1989 until 1994. Schroth died at age 88 on July 23, 2009, due to

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

suffered at his home in

Sedgwick, Maine Sedgwick is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,202 at the 2020 census. The town includes the village of ''Sargentville''. The countryside around Sedgwick is a haven for birdwatchers, as well as an out-of-the-wa ...

. He was survived by his second wife and their three daughters, a daughter from his first marriage and five grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroth, Thomas N. 1920 births 2009 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American newspaper reporters and correspondents American publishers (people) Dartmouth College alumni Maine Democrats People from Sedgwick, Maine Writers from Trenton, New Jersey Time (magazine) people United States Army Air Forces soldiers