Joe Alsop's Cold War: A Study of Journalistic Influence and Intrigue

by Edwin M. Yoder

Overview

No newspaper columnist of the post-World War II period was more widely known than Joseph Wright Alsop, who, with his younger brother Stewart, wrote a thrice-weekly column for the New York Herald Tribune syndicate from early 1946 until 1958. During this period the craft of newspaper commentary stood at the pinnacle of its influence, and the Alsops, widely read by government officials, opinion leaders, and the public, helped shape the policies of the Cold War period. Drawing on his personal acquaintance with Joe Alsop and on manuscript sources and the reminiscences of family, friends, and associates, columnist Edwin Yoder chronicles a colorful and vital era in Washington journalism, framing the story of the Alsops' partnership within the turbulent 1950s. The Alsop brothers, he shows, were not only ultimate Washington insiders but diligent and imaginative reporters who relied on a vast network of sources for news that no one else reported. He combines the story of these two brilliant columnists with the story of a pivotal era in the life of the nation. from the book Now and then the words 'influential' and even 'powerful' are applied to journalists. Both adjectives were freely used, in their time, of both the Alsop brothers. . . . The Alsops thought of themselves primarily as investigative reporters and only secondarily as pundits. Their game, they insisted, was revelation—the fresher the better. One of their many rules was that every column they wrote must offer at least one 'new' fact that no one else had reported; no stand-alone opinionizing was allowed.

Originally published 1995.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition — UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807857175
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	01/01/2011
Edition description:	1
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	1410L (what's this?)

About the Author

A columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group and a professor of journalism and humanities at Washington and Lee University, Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., is the author of The Night of the Old South Ball and The Unmaking of a Whig. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[An] engaging and perceptive book. . . . Yoder conveys both [Alsop's] strengths and weaknesses with the clear eyes of a good reporter and the sensitivity of a true friend.—Washington Post Book World



Joseph W. Alsop was a flamboyant and idiosyncratic cold warrior, as Edwin M. Yoder, Jr. shows in this elegant study.—Journalism History



Intelligent and engaging. . . . A thoughtful and appreciative memoir of a formidable, irascible, and curiously lovable man.— Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Washington Monthly



An affectionate and amusing biography, largely focused on the 1950s, of one of the premier columnists of his day.—Foreign Affairs



Joseph Alsop was a superb columnist. Ed Yoder is one, and has turned a bright light on Alsop's dramatic life at the center of events in a dangerous time. This is a notable contribution to the history of journalism and of this century.—George F. Will



Edwin M. Yoder writes that this book 'aims to be history with a biographical flavor.' It is that, but also much more. It is a superb biography, suffused with a historical essence. That essence is both precise and rich—an unusual combination. The result is an extraordinarily well-written book, surpassing the above, modestly stated, aims of its author.—John Lukacs

Editorial Reviews

"[An] engaging and perceptive book. . . . Yoder conveys both [Alsop's] strengths and weaknesses with the clear eyes of a good reporter and the sensitivity of a true friend."--"Washington Post Book World"

"An affectionate and amusing biography, largely focused on the 1950s, of one of the premier columnists of his day."--"Foreign Affairs"

"Intelligent and engaging. . . . A thoughtful and appreciative memoir of a formidable, irascible, and curiously lovable man."-- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., "Washington Monthly"

"Joseph Alsop was a superb columnist. Ed Yoder is one, and has turned a bright light on Alsop's dramatic life at the center of events in a dangerous time. This is a notable contribution to the history of journalism and of this century."--George F. Will

"Joseph W. Alsop was a flamboyant and idiosyncratic cold warrior, as Edwin M. Yoder, Jr. shows in this elegant study."--"Journalism History"

From the Publisher

From 1946 to 1958, Joseph and Stewart Alsop wrote an influential syndicated column for the New York Herald Tribune. Yoder maintains that Stewart (1914-1974) was the equal of his older brother as a reporter and writer; his book, however, is almost entirely about Joseph Alsop (1910-1989), probably because he is the more interesting of the two. Yoder tracks Alsop's journalistic causes through the 1950s: his early support for U.S. involvement in Indochina; his outspoken opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy; his defense of J. Robert Oppenheimer after the nuclear physicist's security clearance was suspended; and his crusade to head off U.S. inferiority in strategic weaponry (the so-called missile gap). Yoder reveals details of Alsop's harrowing experience in Moscow in 1957, when he was secretly photographed with a male sexual partner in his hotel room and threatened with blackmail. A columnist for the Washington Post, Yoder showcases Joseph Alsop as ``a prickly relic of a more individualistic past'' in the great age of the Washington political columnist. First serial to Civilization magazine. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly