Books in Brief: The Colonel of Chicago

The Colonel of Chicago, by Joseph Gies (Dutton, 261 pp., illus., $12.95). The story is told that a committee of prominent Chicagoans was about to name the newly constructed international airport just northwest of their city in honor of George C. Marshall. They were, that is, until Colonel Robert Rutherford McCormick was informed that the likely designation would come to be Marshall Field, whereupon the plan was suddenly dropped. Lest posterity associate the christening with a rival publisher who had the effrontery to compete with the Colonel’s Chicago Tribune, “The World’s Greatest Newspaper,” O’Hare was chosen instead, to honor a rather obscure naval hero, “son of a Chicago racetrack owner who was bumped off by gangsters.” Though probably apocryphal, the tale is appropriate to this legendary figure whose blend of business acumen, dash, and foresight left his competitors in a continual state of disarray. The liberal press mocked his benevolent paternalism and unrelenting patriotism, dubbing McCormick “one of the finest minds of the fourteenth century.” In reply, he refined his newspaper until it was technically the finest, albeit the most controversial, daily in the nation. For questioning the prevailing wisdom about German guilt in World War I and exposing the covert maneuverings of FDR which led us into another war, the Colonel incurred the enmity of a government which encouraged his rivals and, on one occasion, contemplated his arrest. Such obstacles were occupational hazards for a publisher who had weathered Boss Lorimer. Big Bill Thompson, Henry Ford, Al Capone, the Chicago newsstand distribution war, assorted death threats, and the nuisance of the British Empire. Throughout this fascinating biography Joseph-Gies, a self-described “old Left-Liberal Democrat,” has ironically captured the essence of his remarkable subject, whose retrospective stature towers far above the corporate mentality of so many publications that today scurry for the safety of consensus journalism.

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Alan L. Miller

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The Colonel of Chicago, by Joseph Gies (Dutton, 261 pp., illus., $12.95). The story is told that a committee of prominent Chicagoans was about to name the newly constructed international airport just northwest of their city in honor of George C. Marshall. They were, that is, until Colonel Robert Rutherford McCormick was informed that the likely designation would come to be Marshall Field, whereupon the plan was suddenly dropped. Lest posterity associate the christening with a rival publisher who had the effrontery to compete with the Colonel’s Chicago Tribune, “The World’s Greatest Newspaper,” O’Hare was chosen instead, to honor a rather obscure naval hero, “son of a Chicago racetrack owner who was bumped off by gangsters.” Though probably apocryphal, the tale is appropriate to this legendary figure whose blend of business acumen, dash, and foresight left his competitors in a continual state of disarray. The liberal press mocked his benevolent paternalism and unrelenting patriotism, dubbing McCormick “one of the finest minds of the fourteenth century.” In reply, he refined his newspaper until it was technically the finest, albeit the most controversial, daily in the nation. For questioning the prevailing wisdom about German guilt in World War I and exposing the covert maneuverings of FDR which led us into another war, the Colonel incurred the enmity of a government which encouraged his rivals and, on one occasion, contemplated his arrest. Such obstacles were occupational hazards for a publisher who had weathered Boss Lorimer. Big Bill Thompson, Henry Ford, Al Capone, the Chicago newsstand distribution war, assorted death threats, and the nuisance of the British Empire. Throughout this fascinating biography Joseph-Gies, a self-described “old Left-Liberal Democrat,” has ironically captured the essence of his remarkable subject, whose retrospective stature towers far above the corporate mentality of so many publications that today scurry for the safety of consensus journalism.