Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Donald Ritchie
Washington Independent Review of Books
Pearson is a forgotten name to Washington’s current ambitious, tweeting generation. But from the 1930s into the Lyndon Johnson era of the 1960s, he was the country’s most powerful, hard-hitting, muckraking journalist, his column syndicated in 600 newspapers. According to Ritchie, “Pearson devoted his columns to uncovering inside information mixed with close-hand observations, strong opinions and moral indignation.” Presidents from FDR to LBJ befriended him and disparaged him.
Book review of The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson's Washington by Donald A. Ritchie
Ask people what’s wrong with political journalism in America, and you’re likely to get a long list: a focus on personalities instead of policy, an obsession with scandal, too much reliance on anonymous sources, liberal bias. Drew Pearson, arguably the most influential political columnist in U.S. history, could be faulted for all those shortcomings and more. And yet, it’s hard not to admire Pearson after reading Donald A.
The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson’s Washington
In The Columnist, Donald A. Ritchie has written a well-researched and important chronicle of the career of Drew Pearson. Ritchie, whom I know professionally, is the former historian of the United States Senate and has extensive knowledge of American political journalism in the 20th century. His other book, Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps, can be read in tandem with this one. Pearson is a forgotten name to Washington’s current ambitious, Tweeting generation.
Drew Pearson, the Muckraking Journalist With the Bully Pulpit
nonfiction Drew Pearson at work, 1943.Credit...Marie Hansen/The LIFE Picture Collection, via Getty Images June 1, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET THE COLUMNIST Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson’s Washington By Donald A. Ritchie In 1944 a poll of Washington reporters rated the syndicated political columnist Drew Pearson first among his peers for his influence on public opinion generally, and second, behind only this newspaper’s Arthur Krock, for his influence inside the nation’s capital.
The Senate’s unchanging rules
At his recent press conference, President Biden said that he came to the Senate 120 years ago. I knew exactly what he meant because I got there three years after him when I joined the Senate Historical Office in 1976, and it was a different world. Back then, all senators were men, as were all the clerks at the front desk. One party had held the majority for twenty years. Both parties were internally divided, straddling liberal and conservative wings.
Perspective | The media will be key to overcoming a Senate filibuster on voting rights
In 1964, the Senate underwent the longest filibuster in its history: 75 days of speeches and procedural moves aimed at preventing passage of that year’s monumental civil rights bill. That legislation, proposed by President John F. Kennedy and promoted by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to ban racial segregation in public places and end employment discrimination.
The Most Colossal Liar in the United States?
How Churchill and Roald Dahl were involved with columnist Drew Pearson, who published true government leaks in World War II. By Donald A Ritchie In 1944 Franklin Roosevelt called the newspaper columnist Drew Pearson a chronic liar for revealing anti-Russian sentiments within the US State Department, despite the wartime alliance with the Soviet Union.
Roundup Top 10!
6/21/19 Roundup tags: Roundup Top 10 The impeachment illusion by Donald A. Ritchie What is clear from the record is that politically-motivated impeachments fail. Only in cases where malfeasance has become overwhelmingly obvious to members of both parties in the House will there be any chance of conviction in the Senate, raising the question: is a losing effort worth the trouble?
The impeachment illusion
The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction Very Short Introductions (VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors, these books can change the way you think about the things that interest you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew nothing about.
The Bookshelf: Celebrate the constitution with lessons from history
Last week marked Constitution Week, which celebrates the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Miss out on this historical commemoration? Then get caught up with these books on one of our nation’s founding documents.An in-depth look at the entire text of the U. S. Constitution, annotated with detailed explanations of its terms and contents.
What to keep in mind for the inauguration | OUPblog
Given our constitutional separation of powers, it seems odd that a presidential inauguration takes place on the Capitol steps. Like so much else in American history, the story begins with George Washington. In 1789, the First Congress met in New York City, where it proceeded to count the electoral ballots, an easy task since the vote had been unanimous.
This year’s other elections
The primaries, the conventions, and the media have focused so much attention on the US presidential candidates that it’s sometimes easy to forget all the other federal elections being held this year; for 34 seats in the Senate and 435 in the House (plus five nonvoting delegates). The next president’s chances of success will depend largely on the congressional majorities this election will produce.
Support Urged For Fulton School Budget
I would like to encourage everyone to get out and support this year’s Fulton School District budget. This year’s budget is a modest increase in spending from the previous year. The spending increase is 2.47% similar to what anyone might expect their own spending to increase from year to year. The tax levy for local taxpayers will only increase .43%. This is in part due to a request the board made last year to reduce last year’s tax increase.
Oswego County Today
FULTON, NY – Helen Czeck, 94, of Fulton, passed away at Oswego Hospital, Oswego, on Wednesday April 20, 2016. She was born in Frankfort, NY, to the late Samuel and Bertha (Dynip) Romanick. Mrs. Czeck was past employed with Nestles, Co., Fulton. She ran the store at St. Vincent De Paul, Fulton, and she was a past member of the Holy Family Altar Rosary Society and Catholic Daughters Court Pere Le Moyne. Mrs. Czeck was predeceased by her husband of 68 years Lewis Czeck, in December 2015.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Donald
Contact Donald, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack