Persico, Joseph
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Joseph Edward Persico (July 19, 1930August 30, 2014) was an author and American military historian. From 1974 to 1977, he was primary speechwriter to
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...
. At the time of his death, he lived in
Guilderland, New York Guilderland is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Gu ...
.
University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...
; ''Finding Aid for the JOSEPH E. PERSICO PAPERS, 1910-2003''
(APAP-030)
/ref> His book ''Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial'' tells the story of the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
; it was adapted for television as the docudrama ''
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
''.


Early life

Joseph Edward Persico was born in
Gloversville, New York Gloversville is a city in the Mohawk Valley region of Upstate New York, United States. The most populous city in Fulton County, it was once the hub of the United States' glovemaking industry, with over 200 manufacturers there and the adjacent ...
on July 19, 1930, to Thomas Persico and Bianca Perrone. In 1952 he received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in English and Political Science from the New York State College for Teachers (now the University at Albany). Following graduation, he joined the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
where he served as a
Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...
aboard a minesweeper and also worked at
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
Headquarters
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.Webcast Interview
at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...


Political career

After three years, he left the Navy and joined Governor
W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...
as a writer and researcher. In 1960, Persico joined the
United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...
working in Argentina, Brazil, and Washington as a Foreign Service Officer. From 1963 until 1966, he served as Executive Assistant to the New York State Health Commissioner and in 1966 became the chief speechwriter for then
Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...
Nelson A. Rockefeller. He remained Rockefeller's primary speechwriter throughout the latter's vice presidency. Persico was nominated as a commissioner to the
American Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memoria ...
by then Secretary of State
Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
. In this capacity he contributed to the design of the
World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists o ...
located at the
National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, writing the words of the poem carved into the message stone located at the eastern entrance of the memorial as well as appearing on the 'Freedom Wall' on the Western edge of the memorial.


Author

In 1977, following the end of Rockefeller's tenure, Persico published ''My Enemy My Brother: Men and Days of Gettysburg'', an historical work of non fiction covering the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. In 1979, he published a novel, ''The Spiderweb'', and a further nonfiction study, ''Piercing the Reich: The Penetration of Nazi Germany by American Secret Agents During World War II''. Three years later he produced ''The Imperial Rockefeller,'' a biography of his former employer. This was followed by a biography of
Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...
. In 1995, he co-wrote Colin L. Powell's autobiography My American Journey. Throughout the 1990s, Persico continued to produce historical books (''Casey: From the OSS to the CIA'' and ''Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial'') as well as numerous articles on American history. In November 2001, he published ''Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage'' and in 2004, ''Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918, World War I and Its Violent Climax''. In May 2013, he published his last book, ''Roosevelt's Centurions: FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II'', through Random House.


Death and burial

Persico died in hospice at St. Peter's Hospital in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
the morning of August 30, 2014. He was buried at
Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the village of Schuylerville in Saratoga County, New York. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as ...
in
Schuylerville, New York Schuylerville () is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The village is located in the northeastern part of the Town of Saratoga, east of Saratoga Springs. It is part of the Capital Region of New York. The Village of Vict ...
.


Personal life

He was married to Sylvia Palma LaVista and they had two daughters.


References


External links

* *
Webcast Interview
at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...
on November 1, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Persico, Joseph 1930 births 2014 deaths Military personnel from New York (state) 20th-century American naval officers Historians from New York (state) People from Guilderland, New York People from Gloversville, New York University at Albany, SUNY alumni United States Navy officers Burials at Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery American male non-fiction writers