Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson was a prominent American journalist known for his influential newspaper column and radio broadcasts, reaching millions of readers and listeners by the 1950s. His work was particularly significant during a tumultuous period in U.S. history, marked by the Korean War and the rise of McCarthyism. Pearson gained notoriety for his critical stance on General Douglas MacArthur, supporting President Truman’s decision to fire him after his controversial military strategies during the Korean conflict. He was also directly involved in challenging Senator Joseph McCarthy's claims regarding communism in the State Department, ultimately disproving his accusations and facing backlash from McCarthy's supporters.
Pearson's journalism, characterized as muckraking, aimed to expose political corruption and advocate for liberal causes such as civil rights and anti-censorship. His confrontational style against political elites established a legacy of investigative reporting that influenced future generations of journalists. Despite facing physical assaults and lawsuits during his career, he maintained a commitment to uncovering the truth and giving voice to the "outsiders" in American society. After his passing, his column continued under the stewardship of colleague Jack Anderson, perpetuating his mission of transparency and accountability in government.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Drew Pearson
- Born: December 13, 1897
- Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
- Died: September 1, 1969
- Place of death: Washington, D.C
Pearson was the most widely read and most influential of the newspaper and radio journalists of the 1950’s and played a key role in undermining Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist witch-hunts.
By 1950, Drew Pearson was very influential as a columnist for newspapers that had a combined circulation of forty million; he also reached another twenty million radio listeners. He was involved in two of the most controversial events of the 1950’s: President Harry S. Truman’s firing of General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean conflict and the rise and fall of Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.
After his initial success in the Korean War, MacArthur wanted both to use air strikes and naval shelling on Communist China and to bring Formosa (now Taiwan) into the war. Fearful of a third world war, Truman resisted, and after the disaster at the Yalu River, MacArthur was fired, despite his enormous popularity in the United States. Pearson, who had long been critical of the general, supported Truman and unearthed information that suggested that MacArthur had in fact made three tactical errors in the Yalu rout.
Pearson’s involvement in the McCarthy affair was more direct. In 1950, he disproved McCarthy’s charge that there were 205 communists in the State Department. Pearson found only three people whose loyalty might be questioned. Although his associate Jack Anderson was initially a friend of McCarthy, Pearson continued his attacks on the junior senator from Wisconsin in his syndicated Washington Merry-Go-Round column. McCarthy counterattacked by encouraging a successful “patriotic” boycott of products advertised on Pearson’s radio show, which was taken off the air. Called a “left-wing mockingbird” and assaulted by fellow columnists Walter Winchell and Westbrook Pegler , Pearson responded by writing a 1951 exposé of McCarthy, alleging that his war record was phony, that he cheated on his income taxes, and that he was in the pay of the real estate lobby. The assaults on Pearson became physical when McCarthy attacked him at the Sulgrave Club in Washington, D.C., in December, 1950.
Though he was not a professed liberal, Pearson espoused liberal causes such as integration, civil rights, the welfare system, foreign aid, and peace. He was an outspoken opponent of right-wing radicals and campaigned against censorship and corruption in the military-industrial complex. He may have been more critical of Republican presidents than Democratic ones, but he incurred the wrath of President Truman when he criticized the singing of the president’s wife and daughter. Speaking to the “outsiders,” the people from the rural Midwest, he battled the powerful elite by pushing for change and exposing the “insiders.” Because of his controversial views, he was often sued, and he responded in kind, winning all but one case that went to trial. Even though he was a muckraking investigative journalist reporting on domestic and political intrigue in Washington, he was also a crusader.
Impact
Pearson made muckraking respectable and gave American citizens inside information about events within Washington. After his death, his colleague Jack Anderson continued his column. Pearson’s willingness to confront Washington power brokers established a tradition of exposing political wrongdoing that later helped lead to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon.
Bibliography
Abell, Tyler, ed. Drew Pearson Diaries, 1949-1959. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974. Highlights previously unpublished material.
Anderson, Jack, and James Boyd. Confessions of a Muckraker. New York: Random House, 1979. Details the collaboration between Pearson and Anderson.
Pilat, Oliver. Drew Pearson: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. Balanced account of Pearson’s life and accomplishments.
Shapiro, Bruce, ed. Shaking the Foundations: Two Hundred Years of Investigative Journalism in America. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002. Includes a discussion of Pearson’s contribution to the field of investigative reporting.