Haynes Bonner Johnson(July 9, 1931 – May 24, 2013) was an American journalist, author, and television analyst. He reported on most of the major news stories of the latter half of the 20th century and was widely regarded as one of the top American political commentators.[citation needed]
Haynes Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson circa 2006 | |
| Born | July 9, 1931 New York City,New York,U.S. |
| Died | May 24, 2013(aged 81) |
| Known for | Pulitzer Prize |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Erwin; Kathryn A. Oberly |
Biography
editJohnson was born inNew York Cityto journalistMalcolm Johnsonand Emma Ludie (née Adams), a pianist.[1]He is the eldest of four children.[2]His parents moved to Long Island, where he grew up.[3]He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from theUniversity of Missouriin 1952 and then served in theU.S. Armyas a first lieutenant in artillery during theKorean War.He earned his master's in American history from theUniversity of Wisconsinin 1956.
Johnson had begun his newspaper career earlier in Manhattan as a copy boy forThe New York Sun,where his father worked. In 1956 he began reporting for theWilmington (Delaware) News-Journal,and the following year, Johnson joined theWashington Evening Starwhere he worked for 12 years, variously as a reporter, copy editor, night city editor and national reporter. He covered conflicts in the Dominican Republic and India, as well as theVietnam War.Johnson joinedThe Washington Postin 1969, serving first as a National correspondent, as a special assignment correspondent at home and abroad, then as the paper's Assistant Managing Editor and finally, as a national affairs columnist.
Johnson won aPulitzer Prize for National Reportingin 1966, for his coverage of the civil rights crisis inSelma, Alabama.[4] The award marked the first time in Pulitzer Prize history that a father and son both received awards for reporting; his father, Malcolm Johnson, won in 1949 for the New York Sun series, "Crime on the Waterfront," which was the basis for theAcademy Award-winning film,On the Waterfront.[1]
He was the author or editor of sixteen books, five of them best-sellers, including his most recent work, co-authored withWashington Postpolitical reporterDan Balz,The Battle for America: 2008.Johnson also was a regular commentator on thePBStelevision showsWashington Week in ReviewandThe News Hour.[5]
He held academic appointments atDuke University,Princeton University,University of California at Berkeley,theUniversity of PennsylvaniaandGeorge Washington Universityand served as the Knight chair of public affairs journalism at theUniversity of Marylandfrom 1998 until 2013.[6][7]
Personal life
editHe married Julia Ann Erwin in 1954; they had five children, and later divorced. In 2002, he marriedKathryn Oberly.[1]
Death
editOn May 24, 2013, he died of a heart attack inBethesda, Maryland.Johnson's survivors include his wife, Kathryn A. Oberly, a former associate judge on theDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals,and three daughters and two sons from his previous marriage, to Julia Erwin.[1]
Dan Balz,senior political reporter at theWashington Post,paid tribute to Johnson's reporting skills: "I don't say this lightly. He was a great journalist."[5]Professor and noted former editor ofThe Philadelphia InquirerandThe New York TimesGene Robertsobserved “He made his subjects come alive,” adding that “His writing had a flow and a polish.”[8]
Former advisor to PresidentsBill ClintonandBarack Obama,formerChicago Tribunepolitical writer and currentNBC Newssenior political analystDavid Axelrodstated: "When I was a young political reporter, Haynes Johnson was one of the great, iconic journalists we all aspired to be. May he rest in peace."[9]University of MarylandPresidentWallace Lohsaid of Johnson: "He helped anchor a new generation of journalists."[10]
Johnson was scheduled to be inducted into theSociety of Professional JournalistsWashington DC chapter's hall of fame in June, 2013.
Bibliography
edit
- Dusk at the Mountain(1963)
- The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506(1964)[11]
- Fulbright: The Dissenter,with Bernard M. Gwertzman (1968)
- Army in Anguish,with George C. Wilson (1972)
- The Unions,with Nick Kotz (1972)
- Lyndon,with Richard Harwood (1973)
- The Fall of a President,editor (1974)
- The Working White House(1975)
- In the Absence of Power: Governing America(1980)
- The Landing: A Novel of Washington and World War II,with Howard Simons (1986)
- Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years(1991)[12]
- Divided We Fall(1994)
- The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point,with David Broder (1996)
- The Best of Times: America in the Clinton Years(2001)
- The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism(2005)
- The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Electionwith Dan Balz (2009)
- Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonistwith Harry Katz (2009)
References
edit- ^abcdFox, Margalit (May 24, 2013)."Haynes Johnson, Journalist and Author, Is Dead at 81".The New York Times.Retrieved25 May2013.
- ^Conversations with History: Haynes Johnson,24 April 2008,retrieved2023-06-04
- ^Conversations with History: Haynes Johnson,24 April 2008,retrieved2023-06-04
- ^"Haynes Johnson, Journalist and Author, Is Dead at 81".Retrieved24 May2013.
- ^ab"Haynes Johnson dies at 81; won Pulitzer for civil rights coverage".The Los Angeles Times.May 25, 2013.
- ^"Faculty and Staff Directory | Philip Merrill College of Journalism".Merrill.umd.edu. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-06-22.Retrieved2013-08-18.
- ^"Reporting Civil Rights: Reporters and Writers: Haynes Johnson".Reportingcivilrights.loa.org. 1931-07-09. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-07.Retrieved2013-08-18.
- ^"Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Haynes Johnson dies at age 81".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon 26 May 2013.Retrieved25 May2013.
- ^"David Axelrod tweets: When I was a young political reporter, Haynes Johnson was one of the great, iconic journalists we all aspired to be. May he rest in peace. - May 25 -338312203239309312".Tweetwood. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-06-30.Retrieved2013-08-18.
- ^"Merrill Faculty and Friends Remember Beloved Professor Haynes Johnson".Merrill.umd.edu. 2013-05-24. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-09-07.Retrieved2013-08-18.
- ^Davis, Harold Eugene.Review ofThe Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506,by Haynes Johnson.World Affairs,Vol. 127, No. 2, 1964, pp. 113–113.
- ^Hyland, William G.Review ofSleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years,by Haynes Johnson.Foreign Affairs,Vol. 70, No. 3, Summer 1991, p. 168.doi:10.2307/20044848.Archived fromthe original.