Westbrook Pegler and the anti-union movement

Journal of American History

Volumn 92, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 527-552

  Witwer, David ^a  

^a LYCOMING COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33845757736     PISSN: 00218723     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3659277     Document Type: Review

References (179)

1. Ed., "Letters," Time, Dec. 22, 1941, p. 2;
2. Westbrook Pegler, "Things I Really Like," Cosmopolitan, 132 (Feb. 1950), 52;
3. Edwin Emery and Michael Emery, The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media (Englewood Cliffs, 1984), 438;
4. Oliver Pilat, Pegler, Angry Man of the Press (Boston, 1963), 278;
5. Diane McWhorter, "Dangerous Minds: William F. Buckley Soft-Pedals the Legacy of Journalist Westbrook Pegler in The New Yorker," Slate, March 4, 2004 〈http://www.slate.msn.com/id/2096673/〉 (April 1, 2004);
6. Oliver Pilat, "Westbrook Pegler: Over the Edge," ADL Bulletin, 21 (Jan. 1964), 4-5;
7. "Pegler Again Man without a Publisher," Kansas City Star, April 9, 1964,
8. folder: Communism-Opponents of, John Birch Society, 1960-1966, box 21, (James) Westbrook Pegler Papers (Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Iowa).
9. New York Times, May 6, 1941, p. 1;
10. Jack Alexander, "He's Against," Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 14, 1940, p. 11;
11. Pilat, Pegler, 1-2, 177;
12. Charles Fisher, The Columnists (New York, 1944), 167.
13. George P. West, "The Westbrook Pegler Mind," New Republic, Oct. 5, 1942, pp. 407-8.
14. David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (New York, 1999), 341.
15. Christopher L. Tomlins, "AFL Unions in the 1930s: Their Performance in Historical Perspective," Journal of American History, 65 (March 1979), 1023, 1035;
16. Milton Derber, "Growth and Expansion," in Labor and the New Deal, ed. Milton Derber and Edwin Young (Madison, 1957), 17;
17. Melvyn Dubofsky, The State and Labor in Modern America (Chapel Hill, 1994), 133-35, 139;
18. John M. Allswang, The New Deal and American Politics (New York, 1978), 19, 39-41;
19. J. David Greenstone, Labor in American Politics (New York, 1969), 40-41.
20. Graham J. White, FDR and the Press (Chicago, 1979), 1, 689-90;
21. Betty Winfield, FDR and the News Media (Urbana, 1990), 143-45;
22. Robert Bendiner and James Wechsler, "From Scripps to Howard," Nation, May 13, 1939, pp. 554-55;
23. A. J. Liebling, "Publisher IV: Once Again She Lorst 'Er Nime," New Yorker, Aug. 23, 1941, pp. 24-26;
24. George Seldes, Lords of the Press (New York, 1938), 3-19, 206, 227;
25. Frank Freidel, Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezvous with Destiny (Boston, 1990), 276;
26. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear, 404.
27. Emery and Emery, Press and America, 430-31;
28. David Nasaw, The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (New York, 2000), 492-94, 513-16, 522-24;
29. White, FDR and the Press, 94;
30. James T. Patterson, Congressional Conservatism and the New Deal: The Growth of the Conservative Coalition in Congress, 1933-1939 (Lexington, Ky., 1967), 191.
31. Emery and Emery, Press and America, 342-43, 435-38;
32. Fisher, Columnists, 4-9;
33. A. J. Liebling, "Publisher III: An Impromptu Pulitzer," New Yorker, Aug. 16, 1941, pp. 23-24.
34. For the statement of Helen Lynd and Robert Lynd, see Leo Calvin Rosten, The Washington Correspondents (New York, 1937), 140.
35. Fisher, Columnists, 7, 15.
36. Harold Ickes, America's House of Lords: An Inquiry into the Freedom of the Press (New York, 1939), 96;
37. Fisher, Columnists, 151-52, 154, 167, 195, esp. 151;
38. Raymond Clapper, Watching the World (New York, 1944), 56;
39. Alexander, "He's Against," 10.
40. On the survey by Fortune,
41. see Rosten, Washington Correspondents, 144.
42. Ickes, America's House of Lords, 102;
43. White, FDR and the Press, 27.
44. Robert Bendiner and James Wechsler, "From Scripps to Howard: Part II, Columns Right!," Nation, May 20, 1939, pp. 580-81;
45. "Attention Roy Howard," Nation, ibid., May 14, 1938, pp. 548-49;
46. Roy Howard to John Sorrells, May 23, 1938, City File: New York City, box 142, Executive Correspondence, Roy W. Howard Papers (Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.);
47. Howard to G. B. Parker, Sept. 16, 1940, City File: Washington, D.C., box 169, ibid.
48. Howard to Parker, Jan. 17, 1941, City File: Washington, D.C., box 180, Executive Correspondence, Howard Papers.
49. Examples of Roy Howard's dealings with columnists include Howard to Raymond Clapper, June 8, 1937, box 8, Raymond Clapper Papers (Library of Congress);
50. and Howard to Parker, March 13, 1938, City File: Washington, D.C., box 145, Executive Correspondence, Howard Papers.
51. William H. Hawkins to Howard, July 29, 1936, box 4, Walker Stone Papers (Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison);
52. Howard to Sorrells, May 23, 1938, City File: New York, box l42, Executive Correspondence, Howard Papers;
53. Howard to Westbrook Pegler, Jan. 19, 1934, City File: New York, box 94, ibid.;
54. Howard to Westbrook Pegler, July 7, Aug. 26, 1938, City File: New York, box 142, ibid.;
55. Julie Pegler to Howard, April 14, 1942, City File: New York, box 186, ibid.;
56. Julie Pegler to Howard, May 10, 1943, City File: New York, box 195, ibid.;
57. Julie Pegler to Peg, Jane, and Roy Howard, Jan. 18, 1936, City File: New York, box 117, ibid.;
58. Pilat, Pegler, 105-9, 138-39;
59. Forest Davis, "Press Lord," Saturday Evening Post, March 12, 1938, pp. 6, 30;
60. Liebling, "Publisher III," 24.
61. Howard to Hugh Johnson, Feb. 9, 1937, City File: Washington, D.C., box 133, Executive Correspondence, Howard Papers;
62. Howard to Parker, June 10, 1938, City File: Washington, D.C., box 145, ibid.
63. Howard to Parker, April 2, 1940, City File: Washington, D.C., box 169, ibid.
64. Sorrells to Walker Stone, Aug. 25, 1939, City File: New York City, box 155, ibid.
65. Arthur James Pegler, "Autobiography," typescript, chapter 7, pp. 1-4,
66. folder: Arthur James Pegler, Autobiography, Chapters 1-7, box 51, Pegler Papers;
67. Westbrook Pegler, "Autobiography" typescript, page numbers irregular and incomplete, folder: Books-Autobiography (1), box 114, ibid.;
68. M. L. Stein, Under Fire: The Story of American War Correspondents (New York, 1968), 61.
69. Arthur James Pegler, "Autobiography," chapter 7, pp. 1-4;
70. Westbrook Pegler, "Autobiography";
71. Stein, Under Fire, 61.
72. For examples of his sports writing, see Westbrook Pegler, "Tis Well for Promoters, Says Peg, the Fans Aren't Skeptics," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 5, 1928, clipping, box 115, Pegler Papers;
73. and "Proselyting, What of It?," n.d., clipping, Chicago Tribune, ibid.
74. "Not So Tough Guy," Sir, March 29, 1944, p. 31,
75. clipping in folder: Pegler, Articles and Books About, 1944-45, box 51, Sir, ibid.;
76. Ferdinand Lundberg, "The Values of Westbrook Pegler," New Leader, Jan. 31, 1942, p. 4.
77. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Aug. 1, 1942, box 121, Pegler Papers;
78. Membership Card, American Newspaper Guild, issued July 1, 1934,
79. folder: Unions, American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1937, box 80, ibid.;
80. Pilat, Pegler, 136-41;
81. Robert U. Brown, "Pegler Not Satisfied with Fruits of Ten Years Racket Campaigning," Editor & Publisher, July 31, 1943, p. 7.
82. "As Pegler Sees It," Oct. 25, 1945,
83. folder: Unions, American Newspaper Guild, 1933-1937, box 80, Pegler Papers.
84. Nelson Lichtenstein, The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor (New York, 1995), 110;
85. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 18, March 19, Aug. 9, Oct. 30, 1937, Jan. 20, 1938, box 118, Pegler Papers.
86. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 18, 1937, box 118, Pegler Papers;
87. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," July 13, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers; ibid.
88. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Aug. 8, 1939, April 1, 1938, July 27, 1939, Pegler Papers; ibid.
89. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," June 18, May 29, June 9, Aug. 4, Nov. 24, 1937, box 118, Pegler Papers; ibid.;
90. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," March 22, 1938, July 26, July 27, Sept. 22, Oct. 12, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers; ibid.;
91. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 20, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers; ibid.
92. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Aug. 15, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers; ibid.
93. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Nov. 22, 1939, Pegler Papers; ibid.;
94. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 19, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers; ibid.
95. Selig Perlman and Philip Taft, History of Labor in the United States, vol. IV: Labor Movements (New York, 1935), 129-38;
96. Sidney Fine, "Without Blare of Trumpets": Walter Drew, the National Erectors' Association, and the Open Shop Movement, 1903-57 (Ann Arbor, 1995), 1-11, 34-38, 50-54, 201-21;
97. David Wirwer, Corruption and Reform in the Teamsters Union (Chicago, 2003), 20-37;
98. Andrew Wender Cohen, The Racketeer's Progress: Chicago and the Struggle for the Modern American Economy, 1900-1940 (New York, 2004), 140;
99. Finley Peter Dunne, "Mr. Dooley on the Open Shop," 1920, in Unions, Management, and the Public, ed. E. Wight Bakke and Clark Kerr (New York, 1948), 120-21.
100. Richard L. McCormick, "The Discovery That Business Corrupts Politics: A Reappraisal of the Origins of Progressivism," American Historical Review, 86 (April 1981), 264-65, esp. 265.
101. Alexander, "He's Against," 132;
102. John Cameron Swayze, "Candid 'Shots' with a Typewriter," Kansas City Journal Post, Feb. 22, 1938,
103. clipping, folder: Pegler, Articles and Books About, 1915-1941, box 51, Pegler Papers;
104. "Referred to the People," Printer's Ink, Dec. 5, 1941, p. 88.
105. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," March 2, 1938, box 119, Pegler Papers.
106. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Nov. 24, Nov. 28, Nov. 22, Dec. 18, Dec. 20, Dec. 30, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers. ibid.;
107. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 13, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers. ibid.
108. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 13, Jan. 6, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers. ibid.
109. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 19, 1940, Pegler Papers. ibid.
110. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Feb. 1, June 7, 1940, Pegler Papers. ibid.
111. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," July 11, 1940, Pegler Papers. ibid.
112. Cf. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," July 11, 1940, Pegler Papers. ibid.;
113. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," April 1, 1938, July 13, July 26, Aug. 8, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers. ibid.;
114. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 6, Jan. 12, April 6, April 13, April 25, June 7, July 11, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers. ibid.
115. New York Times, Jan. 28, 1940, p. 29;
116. New York Times, ibid., Feb. 21, 1940, p. 3.
117. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Jan. 26, Jan. 31, March 1, April 2, April 12, April 16, April 18, April 24, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers;
118. New York Times, April 22, 1940, p. 1;
119. New York Times, ibid., April 23, 1940, p. 1;
120. New York Times, ibid., Aug. 27, 1940, p. 1;
121. New York Times, ibid., Oct. 8, 1940, p. 1.
122. New York Times, Oct. 7, 1943, p. 25;
123. New York Times, ibid., Oct. 8, 1943, p. 9;
124. New York Times, ibid., Oct. 9, 1943, p. 15;
125. New York Times, ibid., Oct. 13, 1943, p. 25;
126. New York Times, ibid., Oct. 15, 1943, p. 38;
127. New York Times, ibid., Jan. 1, 1944, p. 1.
128. Washington Post, April 23, 1940, p. 10;
129. Chicago Daily Times, May 13, 1940, clipping, folder: Unions, American Federation of Labor, 1908, 1940, box 79, Pegler Papers;
130. Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, Nov. 8, 1941, p. 12;
131. Frank D. Fackethal to Westbrook Pegler, May 8, 1941, folder: Pegler Awards, Pulitzer Prize, box 53, Pegler Papers;
132. New York Times, May 6, 1941, p. 1.
133. Washington Post, April 23, 1940, p. 10;
134. New York Herald-Tribune, April 22, 1940;
135. folder: Unions, American Federation of Labor, 1908, 1940, box 79, Pegler Papers;
136. New York Times, Dec. 24, 1943, p. 12.
137. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Oct. 7, Oct. 8, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers;
138. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," April 22, April 24, Sept. 9, Sept. 19, 1936, box 117, Pegler Papers; ibid.
139. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," June 22, Feb. 26, June 8, Aug. 20, Nov. 11, 1937, box 118, Pegler Papers; ibid.;
140. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," April 28, n.d., 1938, June 8, June 24, Aug. 8, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers; ibid.
141. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Sept. 16, 1940, box 120, Pegler Papers; ibid.
142. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Aug. 8, 1939, box 119, Pegler Papers; ibid.;
143. Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Oct. 15, 1940, Aug. 20, 1941, box 120, Pegler Papers; ibid.
144. James A. Gross, The Reshaping of the National Labor Relations Board: National Labor Policy in Transition, 1937-1947 (Albany, 1981), 5, 24-28, 34-35, 42, 48-52, 85, 100-108, 151-213, 224-40;
145. Gilbert J. Gall, "CIO Leaders and the Democratic Alliance: The Case of the Smith Committee and the NLRB," Labor Studies Journal, 14 (Summer 1989), 4-5, 11, 14-16.
146. Howard W. Smith to William Green, April 13, 1942, box 3, Howard Worth Smith Papers (Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville);
147. "Green Assailed for Defending 'Bad' in the AFL," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 15, 1942, p. 10, ibid.
148. Kenneth O'Reilly, Hoover and the Un-Americans: The FBI, HUAC, and the Red Menace (Philadelphia, 1983), 37-38, 48-49;
149. speech enclosed in memo from Robert E. Stripling to Westbrook Pegler, Dec. 3, 1941, folder: Communism, Opponents of, House Un-American Activities Committee 1941, box 21, Pegler Papers.
150. See Dubofsky, State and Labor in Modern America, 197-231;
151. and Ronald W. Schatz, "Into the Twilight Zone-The Law and the American Industrial Relations System since the New Deal," International Labor and Working-Class History (no. 36, 1989), 51-60.
152. Labor Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act, 29 U.S.C. 141 (1947); Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure (Landrum-Griffin) Act, 29 U.S.C. 401 (1959).
153. Congressional Record 77 Cong., 1 sess., Dec. 2, 1941, p. 9352.
154. Congressional Record, Ibid., Dec. 1, 1941, p. 9305;
155. Congressional Record, ibid., Dec. 2, 1941, p. 9358.
156. Seymour Martin Lipset and William Schneider, The Confidence Gap: Business, Labor, and Government in the Public Mind (New York, 1983), 203;
157. New York Times, June 13, 1941, p. 12;
158. New York Times, ibid., July 26, 1940, p. 11.
159. Hadley Cantril and Frederic Swift, "Public Opinion and Labor Problems: Confidential Report," Nov. 11, 1941, 4, 8-9, 15, President's Personal Files, PPF 4721, Franklin D. Roosevelt Papers (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N.Y.);
160. George H. Gallup, The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935-1971 (3 vols., New York, 1972), I, 277-78.
161. Joel Seidman, American Labor from Defense to Reconversion (Chicago, 1953), 72-73;
162. New York Times, Dec. 4, 1941, pp. 1, 23;
163. New York World-Telegram, Dec. 4, 1941, folder: Pegler, Articles and Books About, 1915-1941, box 51, Pegler Papers;
164. William J. Smith, "Pegler Pushes on to Greener Pastures," Crown Heights Comment, Oct. 10, 1944, p. 3, advance copy sent to Pegler by the author, folder: Pegler, Articles and Books About, 1942-43, Crown Heights Comment, ibid.
165. Congressional Record, 76 Cong., 3 sess., Nov. 20, 1940, pp. 13703-4.
166. Richard Norton Smith, Thomas E. Dewey and His Times (New York, 1982), 347;
167. Opinion Research Corporation, "Dewey vs. Roosevelt: An Analysis of the Presidential Campaign," Aug. 21, 1944, p. 6, box 57, Bruce Barton Papers (Wisconsin State Historical Society);
168. Ray Rubicam to Bruce Barton, July 29, 1944, Republican Folder, 1944, Bruce Barton Papers ibid.;
169. Memo from Stanley High, July 28, 1944, ibid.
170. R. Alton Lee, Truman and Taft-Hartley: A Question of Mandate (Lexington, Ky., 1966), 47, 52.
171. Reprint from Editor and Publisher, June 28, 1947, Folder: Advertisements & Reader Surveys, box 112, Pegler Papers.
172. James T. Patterson, Mr. Republican: A Biography of Robert A. Taft (Boston, 1972), 150-52, 156-59;
173. Alan Brinkley, "The Problem of American Conservatism," American Historical Review, 99 (April 1994), 410.
174. For examples of columns on racial issues, see Westbrook Pegler, "Fair Enough," Aug. 4, Aug. 11, 1938, Jan. 4, 1939, July 16, 1942, box 119, Pegler Papers;
175. Rayford W. Logan to Westbrook Pegler, July 17, 1942, folder: Negroes-General 1907-1955, box 46, Pegler Papers; ibid.
176. Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion: An American History (New York, 1995), 1-5, esp. 5;
177. Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression (New York, 1983), 161.
178. John B. Thompson, Political Scandal: Power and Visibility in the Media Age (Malden, 2000), 11-24, 28-30, 72-80, 86-89;
179. Robert Williams, Political Scandals in the U.S.A. (Edinburgh, 1998), 6, 122-30.