David Lawrence (publisher)

David Lawrence
David Lawrence (1920)
Born	(1888-12-25)December 25, 1888 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	February 11, 1973(1973-02-11) (aged 84) Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater	Princeton University
Known for	U.S. News & World Report, founder

David Lawrence^[1] (December 25, 1888 – February 11, 1973) was an American conservative newspaperman.

Early life and education

Lawrence attended Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated as part of the Class of 1910.^[2] While at Princeton University, he was a student of Woodrow Wilson.

Career

In 1916, Lawrence became the Washington, D.C. correspondent of New York Evening Post, which was then the evening edition (since discontinued) of The New York Post.

After Woodrow Wilson's re-election as U.S. President, Wilson fired his Irish-American White House secretary (chief of staff) Joseph Patrick Tumulty in 1916 to placate anti-Catholic sentiment, which was being espoused from his wife and Colonel Edward M. House, his advisor. Lawrence then successfully interceded on Tumulty's behalf to remain.

Political views

During the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, Lawrence criticised the New Deal in his 1934 book Beyond the New Deal.^[3] His observation of economic activity led him to distinguish between free enterprise and corporatism, and he wrote, "Theoretically, corporations are creations of the state."^{[citation needed]}

He sharply criticized the use of the atomic bomb against Japan, comparing it to the gas chambers of Nazi concentration camps, and he maintained that the United States had become guilty and needed to apologize to the world.^[4]

He was a critic of the 1963 March on Washington, calling it "the mess in Washington."^[5]

Publisher

In 1926, Lawrence founded United States Daily, a weekly newspaper devoted to covering government. Seven years later, he shut it down to start United States News for an audience of community leaders, businessmen, and politicians.^[6] In 1948, United States News merged with Lawrence's two-year-old weekly magazine, World Report, to form the news magazine U.S. News & World Report. At the time of his death, the magazine had a circulation of two million.

Awards

On April 22, 1970, David Lawrence was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.^[7]

Personal life

Lawrence married Ellanor (Campbell Hayes Daly) Lawrence on July 17, 1918,^[8] and they had three children: David Jr., Mark, and Nancy. A foster daughter, Etienne, was married in 1927 to Herbert Sturhahn, a former college football player for Yale University.^[9] Ellanor died June 13, 1969.^[10] In 1971, to honor her memory, Lawrence gave Fairfax County, Virginia, the land that became Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly, Virginia.

Death

On February 11, 1973, Lawrence died of an apparent heart attack at his Sarasota, Florida home.^[11]

References

Further reading

• David Lawrence: A Profile at usnews.com
• Magazine timeline at usnews.com via Wayback Machine
• "Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eight Journalists" – April 22, 1970 at presidency.ucsb.edu via Wayback Machine

External links

• David Lawrence Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University

This page was last edited on 11 April 2024, at 15:18