biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1811–72)
|
| biography:
| Journalist and politician, born in Amherst, New Hampshire, USA. After working as a job-printer and typesetter in New York, he started a literary and news journal and then edited two weekly Whig publications. He founded the New York Tribune (1841) and, aided by a fine staff, built it into a highly regarded, prosperous paper, but also a mouthpiece for his broadly liberal views, often expressed in signed editorials. He served briefly in the US House (1848–9), but later repeatedly failed to win election to Congress. An abolitionist and supporter of the Free Soil movement, he became a prominent Republican, but failed to support Lincoln for a second term (1864) and bucked Northern public opinion by signing a bail bond for the imprisoned Jefferson Davis (1867). An indefatigable figure, he travelled widely and often made speeches at lyceums and local gatherings, familiar for his shambling appearance, absent-minded manner, and blend of seeming naivete and homespun wisdom. His words of advice, ‘Go West, young man’ became famous. In 1872 he was nominated for president by Republican liberals and endorsed by the Democratic Party, but in a bitter campaign he was badly defeated by the regular Republican candidate, Ulysses S Grant. He also lost effective control of the Tribune. Devastated also by his wife's death, he died soon after in an unbalanced state of mind. |
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