Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power
Published: 2010-02-01
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 576 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 576 (Hardcover)
New from: $6.71
Used from: $5.45
Description
Like Alfred Nobel, Joseph Pulitzer is better known today for the prize that bears his name than for his contribution to history. Yet, in nineteenth-century industrial America, while Carnegie provided the steel, Rockefeller the oil, Morgan the money, and Vanderbilt the railroads, Pulitzer ushered in the modern mass media.
James McGrath Morris traces the epic story of this Jewish Hungarian immigrant's rise through American politics and into journalism where he accumulated immense power and wealth, only to fall blind and become a lonely, tormented recluse wandering the globe. But not before Pulitzer transformed American journalism into a medium of mass consumption and immense influence. As the first media baron to recognize the vast social changes of the industrial revolution, he harnessed all the converging elements of entertainment, technology, business, and demographics, and made the newspaper an essential feature of urban life. Pulitzer used his influence to advance a progressive political agenda and his power to fight those who opposed him. The course he followed led him to battle Theodore Roosevelt who, when President, tried to send Pulitzer to prison. The grueling legal battles Pulitzer endured for freedom of the press changed the landscape of American newspapers and politics.
Based on years of research and newly discovered documents, Pulitzer is a classic, magisterial biography and a gripping portrait of an American icon.
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Product Reviews
The Power of the Press and a Difficult Individual
This volume ranks its somewhat like a first time author, James McGrath Morris, up with Ron Chernow, David McCullough, and H.W. Brands. I do not believe there is a more complete work on Pulitzer. Besides the life of Pulitzer the parallel story, a history of modern journalism runs through this biography.
Morris traces Joseph Pulitzer from his roots in Hungary to his arrival in the US as a Civil War conscript through his career in the dual arts of journalism and politics. He is a hard driver of himself and others. Pulitzer is impossible to work for, be related to or be around in general. His generosity and concern for the common man stand in contrast to the many stories that illustrate his lack of consideration for others. As he aged, the emotional cruelty he dished out seemed to intensify. As he became wealthy, he became more sympathetic to the needs of business.
Pulitzer's relationship with his brother Albert certainly raised my curiosity. Here are two brothers, both arriving separately in the US not speaking English, and both independently (of each other) establishing successful English language newspapers. Joseph's treatment of his brother, like his treatment of almost everyone else, is abominable. Hopefully, someone, maybe Morris, will produce a book on this relationship alone.
The chapter on TR Roosevelt and the Canal Zone was fascinating. A movie could be made on this episode alone with wonderful espionage scenes in Panama and Colombia. Roosevelt was wrong to use the apparatus of government to prosecute, but the newspaper (and perhaps Pulitzer) was equally wrong to hammer away on unsubstantiated charges. In this instance, Pulitzer finally met his match.
Through Pulitzer's story you see both the power and limitations of the press. It is clear that it is not the pen that is mightier than the sword, but the ownership of that pen and the apparatus to distribute the writing. You also see the limitations of this power. Pulitzer could get himself elected but not always, and his editorials could only make a deciding factor in close elections. He had to worry about competition and as today, he withheld stories when he felt they would spur the ire of someone important to his business or as in the period of the Canal related litigation, legal concerns.
The story is huge and Morris delivers it at a good pace. It was hard to remember all the reappearing journalists and editors, but the good index helped.
I highly recommend this book for readers of biography and history. I'd like to see it nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
[2010-07-21]
Sadly Neglected Historical Figure
The standard high school American History course speaks extensively about the Robber Barons, but hardly mentions Pulitzer who used the power of the press to advocate for the workingman and against the monopolies and trusts that ruthlessly dominated the country through the late 1800s. Morris' biography reintroduces us to this important figure in the development of a modern press and in politics. The illnesses and ailments that diminished him by the 1890s may have reduced his ability to contribute, but his influence still remained significant. Moreover, every time Pulitzer seemed to be on a path that caused me to lose respect for him as a person, he seemed to resurrect his old fire and commitment to responsible government and fairness and take a surprisingly positive action. His battle with Theodore Roosevelt over freedom of the press has been ignored even by some of Roosevelt's biographers, but should not be.
Having just read Harold Evans' My Paper Chase which traces the development of the press from pre--World War II England to present day America, I found Morris' work to be a fascinating prequel that sets the stage for a broader picture of why an independent media is critical to the survival of a democratic government.
[2010-06-13]
Far More Than A Biography
I read this book about a month ago and just read the many articulate reviews published here which have detailed what has been covered within the pages of this book. Given that I am probably going to rehash some of the information already provided.
This is a remarkable bio even given that it was published during a recent period with more than a fair share of outstanding bios and histories. Based upon some of my own reading choices I've gone through quite a few books that have seemingly married issues such as life stories, public policy, journalism, and newspaper publishing. What gives this book a certain distinction is that it reflects modern newspaper reporting/publishing from an earlier time time frame than even the Hearst era. It heralds to the era of publishing giants and newspaper syndicates that is sometimes viewed as fading in our times based on the fact that our information is obtained off the internet and newspapers are seeing their circulation plummet.
Pulitzer's story is compelling and seemingly a study in contradictions. A jew from Hungary, Pulitzer came to the United States in his teens and fought in the civil war. Afterward he migrated to central Missouri and eventually landed in St. Louis where his publishing career began in earnest when he bought his first newspaper. A defender of the common man, he took on the common man's concerns and causes. As his holdings and wealth increased he morphed into a power wielding mogul who worked harder and more vigorously to defend his empire from things like trade unions. Still there were the efforts to grab onto a good story and make it a great one and keep the public aware and interested. There was also a flirtation with yellow journalism and sensationalism which guaranteed good newspaper revenues. Eventually Pulitzer's empire was permanently based in New York and he was the ruler of his own fifedom. In the ensuing years, he became more isolated from his wife, family, and the people around him. Detached retinas in both his eyes led to blindness (a particularly cruel irony given his life's work) and his later years were spent in physical and emotional darkness as he was enveloped in pain.
Often overshadowed by his competitor Hearst whose persona has grown to mythic proportion, this was a story just begging to be told. I really didn't know all that much about Pulitzer at the outset, but walked away having a better sense of what his accomplishments were as well as what his failings were. Small things surprised me as did a lot of the big things such as the story about fraudlent dealings relating to the construction of the Panama Canal. Overall I got a sense of how quickly the newspaper industry evolved and how many parallels can be drawn to the way stories are reported and handled today.
James McGrath Morris, the author, did a good job pulling all the facts together and fleshing out the person who was better known by his self-named award. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in american history, journalism, newspapers, moguls, influence peddling, print media.
[2010-05-01]
Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power - James McGrath Morris (Harper) Pulitzer: A Life
Given last week's awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes (congratulations New York Times and Washington Post), now seemed like a good time to look deeper into the life of the award's namesake, Joseph Pulitzer.
We begin by pointing out that there has not been a complete biography published on the turn-of-the-century media scion in nearly forty years. That is, until the recent release of James McGrath Morris' new book `Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power.' (Harper). (A book, much like Walter Issakson's `Einstein,' that is at least partially the result of the discovery of a mass of new papers, in this case, discovered in the incestertial archives of Pulitzer's late brother, Albert.)
In it, Morris (an award winning biographer and editor of the publication `The Biographer's Craft') covers the range of Pulitzer's life from his arrival as a Jewish Hungarian immigrant to America in 1864, to his early days in St. Louis political circles to his 1878 purchase at auction of the St. Louis Evening Dispatch (which he later merged to form the region's Post-Dispatch), his eventual move to and creation of a New York power-base with the New York World, to his ultimate untimely bout with blindness and an eventual lonely death.
Along the way, Morris details the vast influences on Pulitzer's life, from the emergence of the industrial revolution, to his calls for political reform to his many run-ins with powerful political figures (even resulting in then President Teddy Roosevelt attempting to put Pulitzer in prison for his many anti-TR pontifications!) Eerily reminiscent of some of the media barons of today, Pulitzer was both an engaging activist and a sometimes pugnacious media lord (a precursor to the Murdochs and Turners of today's media world) though his ultimate demise much more closely resembles the life of another tormented recluse, Howard Hughes.
Either way, young journalists or even the prize winners themselves, would be well served by Morris' detailed account of a man who long ago forged the way for the Hearsts, Paleys, Luces and the other media moguls of the 20th century to do what they did in the name of journalist endeavor. And for all those who know little more than the name (much like, say, Alfred Nobel), `Pulitzer' fills the gaps in an important piece of our domestic history.
[2010-04-19]
The World
A conventional biography of a prominent man in American history of late 19th century and early 20th.
The author, James McGrath Morris, clearly lays out the facts of Joseph Pulitzer's life, with an emphasis slightly more on the personal than on the times.
One will learn some worthwhile things from reading this book: how the Union enlisted European immigrants to help fight the Civil War; the way the Statue of Liberty came to be built at last; the fact that Teddy Roosevelt was deeply flawed as evidenced by his misuse of federal libel law against Pulitzer; and, the genesis of the famous Pulitzer Prizes.
Still, after investing the time to read this book, I doubt if I would redo the effort. Joseph Pulitzer just is not worth it. He was difficult with employees, bad to members of his family, and, all in all, an extremely rich and self-centered jerk.
[2010-04-16]
The Power of the Press and a Difficult Individual
This volume ranks its somewhat like a first time author, James McGrath Morris, up with Ron Chernow, David McCullough, and H.W. Brands. I do not believe there is a more complete work on Pulitzer. Besides the life of Pulitzer the parallel story, a history of modern journalism runs through this biography.
Morris traces Joseph Pulitzer from his roots in Hungary to his arrival in the US as a Civil War conscript through his career in the dual arts of journalism and politics. He is a hard driver of himself and others. Pulitzer is impossible to work for, be related to or be around in general. His generosity and concern for the common man stand in contrast to the many stories that illustrate his lack of consideration for others. As he aged, the emotional cruelty he dished out seemed to intensify. As he became wealthy, he became more sympathetic to the needs of business.
Pulitzer's relationship with his brother Albert certainly raised my curiosity. Here are two brothers, both arriving separately in the US not speaking English, and both independently (of each other) establishing successful English language newspapers. Joseph's treatment of his brother, like his treatment of almost everyone else, is abominable. Hopefully, someone, maybe Morris, will produce a book on this relationship alone.
The chapter on TR Roosevelt and the Canal Zone was fascinating. A movie could be made on this episode alone with wonderful espionage scenes in Panama and Colombia. Roosevelt was wrong to use the apparatus of government to prosecute, but the newspaper (and perhaps Pulitzer) was equally wrong to hammer away on unsubstantiated charges. In this instance, Pulitzer finally met his match.
Through Pulitzer's story you see both the power and limitations of the press. It is clear that it is not the pen that is mightier than the sword, but the ownership of that pen and the apparatus to distribute the writing. You also see the limitations of this power. Pulitzer could get himself elected but not always, and his editorials could only make a deciding factor in close elections. He had to worry about competition and as today, he withheld stories when he felt they would spur the ire of someone important to his business or as in the period of the Canal related litigation, legal concerns.
The story is huge and Morris delivers it at a good pace. It was hard to remember all the reappearing journalists and editors, but the good index helped.
I highly recommend this book for readers of biography and history. I'd like to see it nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
[2010-07-21]
Sadly Neglected Historical Figure
The standard high school American History course speaks extensively about the Robber Barons, but hardly mentions Pulitzer who used the power of the press to advocate for the workingman and against the monopolies and trusts that ruthlessly dominated the country through the late 1800s. Morris' biography reintroduces us to this important figure in the development of a modern press and in politics. The illnesses and ailments that diminished him by the 1890s may have reduced his ability to contribute, but his influence still remained significant. Moreover, every time Pulitzer seemed to be on a path that caused me to lose respect for him as a person, he seemed to resurrect his old fire and commitment to responsible government and fairness and take a surprisingly positive action. His battle with Theodore Roosevelt over freedom of the press has been ignored even by some of Roosevelt's biographers, but should not be.
Having just read Harold Evans' My Paper Chase which traces the development of the press from pre--World War II England to present day America, I found Morris' work to be a fascinating prequel that sets the stage for a broader picture of why an independent media is critical to the survival of a democratic government.
[2010-06-13]
Far More Than A Biography
I read this book about a month ago and just read the many articulate reviews published here which have detailed what has been covered within the pages of this book. Given that I am probably going to rehash some of the information already provided.
This is a remarkable bio even given that it was published during a recent period with more than a fair share of outstanding bios and histories. Based upon some of my own reading choices I've gone through quite a few books that have seemingly married issues such as life stories, public policy, journalism, and newspaper publishing. What gives this book a certain distinction is that it reflects modern newspaper reporting/publishing from an earlier time time frame than even the Hearst era. It heralds to the era of publishing giants and newspaper syndicates that is sometimes viewed as fading in our times based on the fact that our information is obtained off the internet and newspapers are seeing their circulation plummet.
Pulitzer's story is compelling and seemingly a study in contradictions. A jew from Hungary, Pulitzer came to the United States in his teens and fought in the civil war. Afterward he migrated to central Missouri and eventually landed in St. Louis where his publishing career began in earnest when he bought his first newspaper. A defender of the common man, he took on the common man's concerns and causes. As his holdings and wealth increased he morphed into a power wielding mogul who worked harder and more vigorously to defend his empire from things like trade unions. Still there were the efforts to grab onto a good story and make it a great one and keep the public aware and interested. There was also a flirtation with yellow journalism and sensationalism which guaranteed good newspaper revenues. Eventually Pulitzer's empire was permanently based in New York and he was the ruler of his own fifedom. In the ensuing years, he became more isolated from his wife, family, and the people around him. Detached retinas in both his eyes led to blindness (a particularly cruel irony given his life's work) and his later years were spent in physical and emotional darkness as he was enveloped in pain.
Often overshadowed by his competitor Hearst whose persona has grown to mythic proportion, this was a story just begging to be told. I really didn't know all that much about Pulitzer at the outset, but walked away having a better sense of what his accomplishments were as well as what his failings were. Small things surprised me as did a lot of the big things such as the story about fraudlent dealings relating to the construction of the Panama Canal. Overall I got a sense of how quickly the newspaper industry evolved and how many parallels can be drawn to the way stories are reported and handled today.
James McGrath Morris, the author, did a good job pulling all the facts together and fleshing out the person who was better known by his self-named award. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in american history, journalism, newspapers, moguls, influence peddling, print media.
[2010-05-01]
Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power - James McGrath Morris (Harper) Pulitzer: A Life
Given last week's awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes (congratulations New York Times and Washington Post), now seemed like a good time to look deeper into the life of the award's namesake, Joseph Pulitzer.
We begin by pointing out that there has not been a complete biography published on the turn-of-the-century media scion in nearly forty years. That is, until the recent release of James McGrath Morris' new book `Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print and Power.' (Harper). (A book, much like Walter Issakson's `Einstein,' that is at least partially the result of the discovery of a mass of new papers, in this case, discovered in the incestertial archives of Pulitzer's late brother, Albert.)
In it, Morris (an award winning biographer and editor of the publication `The Biographer's Craft') covers the range of Pulitzer's life from his arrival as a Jewish Hungarian immigrant to America in 1864, to his early days in St. Louis political circles to his 1878 purchase at auction of the St. Louis Evening Dispatch (which he later merged to form the region's Post-Dispatch), his eventual move to and creation of a New York power-base with the New York World, to his ultimate untimely bout with blindness and an eventual lonely death.
Along the way, Morris details the vast influences on Pulitzer's life, from the emergence of the industrial revolution, to his calls for political reform to his many run-ins with powerful political figures (even resulting in then President Teddy Roosevelt attempting to put Pulitzer in prison for his many anti-TR pontifications!) Eerily reminiscent of some of the media barons of today, Pulitzer was both an engaging activist and a sometimes pugnacious media lord (a precursor to the Murdochs and Turners of today's media world) though his ultimate demise much more closely resembles the life of another tormented recluse, Howard Hughes.
Either way, young journalists or even the prize winners themselves, would be well served by Morris' detailed account of a man who long ago forged the way for the Hearsts, Paleys, Luces and the other media moguls of the 20th century to do what they did in the name of journalist endeavor. And for all those who know little more than the name (much like, say, Alfred Nobel), `Pulitzer' fills the gaps in an important piece of our domestic history.
[2010-04-19]
The World
A conventional biography of a prominent man in American history of late 19th century and early 20th.
The author, James McGrath Morris, clearly lays out the facts of Joseph Pulitzer's life, with an emphasis slightly more on the personal than on the times.
One will learn some worthwhile things from reading this book: how the Union enlisted European immigrants to help fight the Civil War; the way the Statue of Liberty came to be built at last; the fact that Teddy Roosevelt was deeply flawed as evidenced by his misuse of federal libel law against Pulitzer; and, the genesis of the famous Pulitzer Prizes.
Still, after investing the time to read this book, I doubt if I would redo the effort. Joseph Pulitzer just is not worth it. He was difficult with employees, bad to members of his family, and, all in all, an extremely rich and self-centered jerk.
[2010-04-16]