William Randolph Hearst: The Later Years, 1911-1951

352 Pages·2007·20.85 MB·English

by  Ben Procter

William Randolph Hearst
Final Edition, 1911-
Hearst's inherent eye for beauty appears in this impressive entrance to Casa Grande,
San Simeon, Photograph by Victoria Garagliano; Hearst Castle/CA State Parks,
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Procter, Ben
William Randolph Hearst: the early years,
1863-1910/Ben Procter
p. cm. Includes Index
ISBN 0-19-511277-6
1. Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951.
2. Publishers and publishing—United States—History—Biography.
3. Newspaper publishing—United States—History—19th century.
4. Newspaper publishing—United States—History—20th century.
I. Title
Z473.H4P76 1998 070.5'092
[b]—DC21 97-24574
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 42
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
William Randolph
Hearst
Final Edition, 1911-1951
Ben Procter
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2007
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
1. Government by Newspaper 3
2. The Most Hated Man in America 30
3. The Sword and Shield of the People 53
4. Notable Successes Except in Politics 77
5. End of a Political Dream 105
6. Hollywood, San Simeon, and Expansion 129
7. Solutions to Depression and President Maker 153
8. A Jeffersonian Democrat Versus the New Deal 174
9. Promoting the Red Scare 194
10. Nightmare of Insolvency in a World at War 212
11. Last Years and Final Edition 234
Notes 251
Index 317
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Preface
EEarly in the 1980s Robert E. Burke, a longtime friend who was a dis
tinguished professor of history at the University of Washington, pro-
posed that we write the biography of William Randolph Hearst. I
would cover his life from 1863 to 1910 and Burke, who was editing the
Hiram Johnson Papers for the Bancroft Library at the University of
California-Berkeley, would complete the biography (1910 to 1951).
Burke's untimely death, however, prevented this ambitious undertaking.
Hence in 1998, after Oxford University Press published my book William
Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910,I decided to complete the bi-
ography.
Since Burke often remarked that Hearst was a reflection of his news-
papers, I decided to test that premise as part of my investigation—and
discovered early on in my research that this proposition was basically
correct. As I sat before a microfilm machine for countless hours, outlin-
ing one of Hearst's flagship newspapers, I became, in effect, a subscriber.
In his daily editions history came alive—huge head lines, well-written
stories, exciting political cartoons, trenchant editorials. He was a master
salesman and showman, whose newspaper genius had attracted the at-
tention of American readers after his entry into journalism on March 4,
1887. By 1930 he had assembled a media empire of twenty-eight newspa-
pers in nineteen of the largest cities in the United States. One out of four
Americans read a Hearst newspaper.
Hearst maintained that his fingers were on the "pulse" of the Ameri-
can people, that his hopes and trepidations, his likes and dislikes, re-
flected theirs. As a result, the Hearst newspapers were a tremendous
source of information in regard to his thinking. After 1900 he seldom
corresponded with family and friends concerning his innermost feelings
and long-range desires. But as editor in chief, he directed the editorial
policies of his weekly and Sunday papers, which in turn reflected his
stances concerning the domestic and foreign policies of the United States
as well as his personal views on a wide range of subjects. From 1910 to
1939 he averaged between twenty to thirty signed editorials annually
(usually on page 1), which clearly enunciated his views. Then from
March 1940 to May 1942, he also wrote a daily column, "In The News."
viii
Preface

And since no editorial, whether signed or otherwise, appeared without
his knowledge and approval, a thorough investigation of the Hearst
newspapers was imperative to writing this biography.
Although this method of research was lengthy and often tedious,
Hearst was the rewarding factor. He was a fascinating subject. He was no
ordinary man, displaying strengths and weaknesses that were, like the
man himself, gigantic in magnitude.
Acknowledgments
After six years of researching and writing this second volume of the
A
Hearst biography, I am deeply indebted to a number of profession-
als. At the Texas Christian University library, interlibrary loan specialist
Joyce Martindale was an invaluable resource, obtaining newspapers, mag-
azines, and books from across the nation with utmost speed. Sandy Peo-
ples in circulation kept me up to date on the numerous books checked
out in my possession. Reference librarian Pat Austin helped me seek out
books and dissertations that were so necessary in researching Hearst.
And periodicals librarian Janet Douglass set aside—and kept in working
order—a microfilm machine for my daily use.
Other professionals also encouraged and abetted me. Anthony Bliss,
Richard Ogar, and Franz Enciso in the Bancroft Library at the University
of California-Berkeley imparted their knowledge of the vast Hearst
collections housed there. Robert Clark and Robert H. Parks at the FDR
Library in Hyde Park, New York, expedited my research by their knowl-
edge of Hearst references. Ned Comstock, the Cinema-Television
Archivist at the University of Southern California, was equally informa-
tive and helpful, as was Marc Wanamaker, Bison Archives in Los Ange-
les. And Stacey Behlmer at the Margaret Herrick Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills has a comprehensive knowl-
edge of the materials and was of inestimable value to my research. In re-
gard to San Simeon, chief curator Hoyt Fields, library coordinator Judy
Anderson, and photographer Victoria Garagliano were extremely help-
ful. And special thanks go to John Horn, who was the California parks
historian at San Simeon; he set aside personal time to help me under-
stand the intricacies of the Hearst castle and its surroundings.
Special thanks also go to the assistant chief of the Manuscript Divi-
sion of the Library of Congress David Wigdor who, with the help of
Mark Sweeney and Georgia Higley of the Newspaper Collection, pro-
vided me with Hearst newspapers through interlibrary loan. Wigdor,
who is a specialist in twentieth-century U.S. history, was also an invalu-
able consultant in regard to historical accuracy and content.
Others offering scholarly advice were film historian Louis Pizzitola,
whose book Hearst over Hollywood is a valuable study of Hearst's