James Wechsler
| James Wechsler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James A. Wechsler October 31, 1915 New York City |
| Died | September 11, 1983 (aged 67) New York City |
| Cause of death | lung cancer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | newspaper columnist and editor |
| Employer | New York Post |
| Awards | James Wechsler Award |
James A. Wechsler (October 31, 1915 – September 11, 1983) was an American journalist who worked as a newspaper columnist, Washington bureau chief, editor-in-chief, and editorial page editor of The New York Post. He was a prominent voice of American liberalism for 40 years and was considered one of the most highly informed and responsible political writers in Washington.
Entering Columbia University just shy of age 16, Wechsler graduated in 1935 after rising to editor-in-chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator. In his first year, he attended a speech by Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler, who said that democracies are incapable of choosing strong leaders like totalitarian nations could, which shocked him. He was shocked again when his friend Reed Harris was fired as editor of the Spectator for criticizing the professionalization of college football.
Between 1934 and 1937 Wechsler belonged to the Young Communist League and was a leader of the pro-Communist American Student Union. He left the League after "an eye-opening trip to the Soviet Union." He publicly condemned the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact and was repeatedly attacked by official Communist organs.
From 1942 to 1946 (except for one year in the US Army) Wechsler was national editor of the newspaper PM.
In May 1949, at the age of 33, Wechsler was named editor of The New York Post and, in an unusual arrangement, was in charge of both the news operation and the editorial page. During this period, The Post became known as a crusading liberal newspaper, undertaking investigate exposes of J. Edgar Hoover, Walter Winchell and Robert Moses, among others. In Sept., 1952, the paper published a story about a fund financed by wealthy California businessmen to supplement then-Senator and vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon's office expenses that led Nixon to respond in his famous televised Checkers speech.
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