Arthur Krock

Arthur Krock's former residence in Washington, D.C.

Arthur Bernard Krock (November 16, 1886–April 12, 1974) was a journalist and received the nickname "Dean of Washington newsmen". Arthur Krock was born in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1887. He was the son of German-Jewish bookkeeper Joseph Krock and Caroline Morris, who was half-Jewish. His mother became blind subsequent to his birth and Krock was raised by his grandparents, Emmanuel and Henrietta Morris until he was six years old. When his mother regained her sight, he joined his parents in Chicago, graduating from high school there in 1904. Krock went on to Princeton but dropped out in his first year owing to financial problems. He returned home, and in 1906 graduated with an associate degree from the Lewis Institute in Chicago.

Krock began his career in journalism with the Louisville Herald, then went to Washington, D.C., as a correspondent for the Louisville Times and Louisville Courier-Journal. In 1927, he joined the New York Times and soon became its Washington correspondent and bureau chief. His column, "In the Nation," was noted for its opinions on public policy.

Despite his stature, according to historian David Nasaw, from the earliest days of their friendship in Washington beginning in the mid-1930s, Krock became so a staunch an advocate of Joseph P. Kennedy and his ambitions that he seemed to be all but in the pocket of the powerful millionaire, one who would father not only an American president but two future contenders for America's highest office. Citing the correspondence between the two men in his authorized but highly researched, and critically acclaimed 2012 biography of Joe Kennedy, Professor Nasaw chronicles how it "reveals something quite disturbing, if not corrupt, about Krock's willingness to do Kennedy's bidding, to advise him or write a speech for him, then praise it in his column...."

Interestingly, less than two months before the assassination of Joe Kennedy's son, President John F. Kennedy, in his Oct. 3, 1963 New York Times column titled "The Intra-Administration War in Vietnam," Krock quoted a high-ranking official in the government as saying "The CIA's growth was 'likened to a malignancy' which the 'very high official was not even sure the White House could control... any longer.' 'If the United States ever experiences [an attempt at a coup to overthrow the Government] it will come from the CIA and not the Pentagon. The agency 'represents a tremendous power and total unaccountability to anyone.'"

Over his 60-year career, Arthur Krock knew eleven presidents and won three Pulitzer Prizes. He was also awarded a French citation for his coverage of the Versailles Peace Conference.

He was married twice; first to Marguerite Pollys, daughter of a Minneapolis railroad official, from 1911 to her death following a long illness in 1938. They had one son, Thomas. In 1939, he wed Martha Granger Blair of Chcago, a divorced society columnist for the Washington Times-Herald, who had two sons.

On April 22, 1970, Krock was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.

Pulitzer Prizes

• 1935: for distinguished correspondence: impartial and analytical Washington coverage.
• 1938: for distinguished Washington correspondence.
• 1951: A special commendation for his exclusive interview with President Truman as "the outstanding instance of national reporting in 1950."

External links

• Arthur Krock Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University

References

• Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. 1987. pp. 152–153. ISBN 0-403-09981-1. 
• "Krock, Arthur". The Encyclopedia of Louisville. 2001. 
• Pulitzer Prizes: Arthur Krock
• The American Presidency Project - Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eight Journalists - April 22, 1970