Changes

==Career==

==Career==

 

Pegler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota; his father was a prominent editor.  Working for United Press young Pegler was the youngest American war correspondent in World War I.  After the war, Pegler wrote sports columns, then switched to general interest stories.  In 1925 he was hired as a columnist by the ''Chicago Tribune'', the most important conservative paper in the country. In 1933 he reached a larger audience by moving his column to the Scripps Howard syndicate, where he worked closely with his friend [[Roy Howard]].  In 1942 he was named one of the nation's "best adult columnists". His columns went out six days a week to 174 newspapers that reached about 10 million subscribers.  He moved his syndicated column to the Hearst syndicate in 1944.  

Pegler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota; his father was a prominent editor.  Working for [[United Press]] young Pegler was the youngest American war correspondent in World War I.  After the war, Pegler started off as a sports columnist, but later wrote general interest articles.  In 1925 he moved to the ''Chicago Tribune''. In 1933 he moved to the Scripps Howard syndicate, where he worked closely with his friend [[Roy Howard]].  In 1942 he was named one of the nation's "best adult columnists". His columns went out six days a week to 174 newspapers that reached about 10 million subscribers.  He moved his syndicated column to the Hearst syndicate in 1944.  

--New Deal==

--New Deal==

He initially supported President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], but after seeing the rise of fascism in Europe he returned to warn against the dangers of dictatorship in America. He became one of the Roosevelt administration's sharpest critics over what he saw its abuse of power.  He rarely missed an opportunity to criticize Roosevelt, his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] or Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]].  His views --always expressed in vehement, shrill and colorful language--became increasingly conservative and right-wing.  Pegler was especially outraged by the New Deal's support for powerful labor unions that he considered morally and politically corrupt. Pegler saw himself a populist and muckraker whose mission was to warn the nation that dangerous leaders were in power.

He initially supported President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], but after seeing the rise of fascism in Europe he returned to warn against the dangers of dictatorship in America. He became one of the Roosevelt administration's sharpest critics over what he saw its abuse of power.  He rarely missed an opportunity to criticize Roosevelt, his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] or Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]].  His views --always expressed in vehement, shrill and colorful language--became increasingly conservative and right-wing.  Pegler was especially outraged by the New Deal's support for powerful labor unions that he considered morally and politically corrupt. Pegler saw himself a populist and muckraker whose mission was to warn the nation that dangerous leaders were in power.

==Unions==

==Unions==

In 1941 Pegler became the first columnist ever to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for reporting, for his work in exposing [[racketeering]] in Hollywood labor unions, focusing on the criminal career of [[William Morris Bioff]]. As historian David Witwer has concluded, "He depicted a world where a conspiracy of criminals, corrupt union officials, Communists, and their political allies in the New Deal threatened the economic freedom of working Americans." [Witwer 551]

In 1941 Pegler became the first columnist ever to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for reporting, for his work in exposing [[racketeering]] in Hollywood labor unions, focusing on the criminal career of [[William Morris Bioff]]. Pegler depicted a dark conspiratorial world where criminal syndicates, corrupt union bosses, and Communists threatened the economic freedom of working Americans, while being protected and promoted by liberal allies in the New Deal.

===Feud with Eleanor Roosevelt===

===Feud with Eleanor Roosevelt===

After 1942 assailed [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] (and FDR) regularly. In public Eleanor ignored him.  In private in 1942 she asked the FBI to investigate Pegler suggestion a column he wrote involved “sedition.”  Her actions belied her public reputation as a champion of First Amendment rights when it came to leftists. In fact, she wielded her influence as First Lady to push the Bureau on this case. Dissatisfied with the FBI's initial report on the Pegler's column, she prodded J. Edgar Hoover to expand the investigation until it took on a voluminous scope.  Recent scholars (including Betty Houchin Winfield, Kenneth O'Reilly, and Richard W. Steele) have exposed Franklin Roosevelt's political use of the FBI and traced how he ordered wartime sedition investigations of anti-New Deal newspaper publishers, such as William Randolph Hearst and the Chicago Tribune's Robert McCormick.  In the Pegler's case, there was a willingness to use similar tactics against a prominent conservative columnist. Moreover, it also becomes clear that, despite her reputation as a champion of free speech rights, Eleanor Roosevelt resorted to similar methods against a media opponent.  The charges were entirely false, the FBI reported, but Eleanor continued to push the FBI to look for dirt on Pegler.<ref>David Witwer, "Westbrook Pegler, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the FBI: A History of Infamous Enmities and Unlikely Collaborations." ''Journalism History'', 2009 Vol. 34, Issue 4  in [[EBSCO]]</ref>

After 1942 assailed [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] (and FDR) regularly. In public Eleanor ignored him.  In private in 1942 she asked the FBI to investigate Pegler suggestion a column he wrote involved “sedition.”  Her actions belied her public reputation as a champion of First Amendment rights when it came to leftists. In fact, she wielded her influence as First Lady to push the Bureau on this case. Dissatisfied with the FBI's initial report on the Pegler's column, she prodded J. Edgar Hoover to expand the investigation until it took on a voluminous scope.  Recent scholars (including Betty Houchin Winfield, Kenneth O'Reilly, and Richard W. Steele) have exposed Franklin Roosevelt's political use of the FBI and traced how he ordered wartime sedition investigations of anti-New Deal newspaper publishers, such as William Randolph Hearst and the Chicago Tribune's Robert McCormick.  In the Pegler's case, there was a willingness to use similar tactics against a prominent conservative columnist. Moreover, it also becomes clear that, despite her reputation as a champion of free speech rights, Eleanor Roosevelt resorted to similar methods against a media opponent.  The charges were entirely false, the FBI reported, but Eleanor continued to push the FBI to look for dirt on Pegler.<ref>David Witwer, "Westbrook Pegler, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the FBI: A History of Infamous Enmities and Unlikely Collaborations." ''Journalism History'', 2009 Vol. 34, Issue 4  in [[EBSCO]]</ref>

==Criticism==

==Republicanism==

Pegler criticized every president from Herbert Hoover to FDR ("moosejaw") to Harry Truman ("a thin-lipped hater") to John F. Kennedy.  He also criticized the Supreme Court, the tax system, and labor unions.  His attack on writer Quentin Reynolds led to a costly slander suit against him and his publishers, as a jury awarded Reynolds $175,000 in damages.  In 1962, he lost his contract with King Features Syndicate, owned by Hearst after he started criticizing Hearst executives. His late writing appeared sporadically in obscure publications, including the John Birch Society's ''American Opinion'' and grew increasingly vituperative, violent, and unnoticed by the public that once read him eagerly.

Pegler exemplified a traditional defense of American values--especially [[republicanism]]--against powerful and corrupt government, in an echo of the Patriots of 1775.  Pegler criticized every president from Herbert Hoover to FDR ("moosejaw") to Harry Truman ("a thin-lipped hater") to John F. Kennedy for their failures to uphold the values of republicanism.  He also attacked the Supreme Court, and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as labor unions big and small.  His attack on writer Quentin Reynolds led to a costly slander suit against him and his publishers, as a jury awarded Reynolds $175,000 in damages.  In 1962, Pegler lost his contract with King Features Syndicate, owned by Hearst after he started criticizing Hearst executives. His late writing appeared sporadically in obscure publications, including the John Birch Society's ''American Opinion'' and grew increasingly vituperative, violent, and unnoticed by the public that once read him eagerly.

Pegler published three volumes of his collected writings:   

Pegler published three volumes of his collected writings:   

*''The Dissenting Opinions of Mr. Westbrook Pegler''

*''The Dissenting Opinions of Mr. Westbrook Pegler'' (1938)

*''T'ain't Right''

*''T'ain't Right'' (1936)

*''George Spelvin, American and Fireside Chats''  

*''George Spelvin, American and Fireside Chats'' (1942) [http://books.google.com/books?id=nNIrs0PxIsUC&dq=inauthor:westbrook+inauthor:pegler&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]

==References==

==Further reading==

* Farr, Finis. ''Fair Enough: The Life of Westbrook Pegler''. 1975.  

* Farr, Finis. ''Fair Enough: The Life of Westbrook Pegler''. 1975.  

*  Pilat, Oliver. ''Pegler, Angry Man of the Press'' Greenwood Press, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77838521 (1973)]

*  Pilat, Oliver. ''Pegler, Angry Man of the Press'' Greenwood Press, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=77838521 (1973)]