John O'Donnell
Born
John Parsons O'Donnell

(1896-07-23)July 23, 1896
Somerville, Massachusetts
DiedDecember 17, 1961(1961-12-17) (aged 65)
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationJournalist
SpouseDoris Fleeson (1930-1942)
ChildrenDoris O'Donnell

John Parsons O'Donnell (July 23, 1896, in Somerville, Massachusetts–December 17, 1961, at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.) was an American political journalist and analyst known for working for the New York Daily News.

Early life and education

The son of a doctor, O'Donnell graduated from Tufts College in 1920 with a B.A. degree. He then did graduate work at Harvard University and Dijon University.[1]

Career

O'Donnell served as an infantry lieutenant in World War I.[1] In 1923, he became a reporter and assistant city editor at the New York American, a post he held until 1927, when he joined the New York Daily News.[2] After others noticed his knack for political journalism, he was assigned to report on Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 presidential inauguration. In 1939, after World War II broke out, he became a correspondent for the Daily News; in this capacity he spent time with the British military's forces on the Maginot line in France.[1] O'Donnell followed his publisher's turn from admiration to intense criticism of President Roosevelt.[2] In 1942, Roosevelt gave an Iron Cross to Earl Godwin, whereupon he asked that it be given to O'Donnell.[3] Roosevelt cited O'Donnell's reporting on former White House correspondent George Durno (viewed by other reporters as the President's favorite)[4] as the reason for this gesture, which was criticized by the Chicago Tribune as a "new low in vilification".[5]

According to an Army history, even with its hasty retraction,[6] O'Donnell's June 8, 1943 "Capitol Stuff" column did "incalculable damage" to the Women's Army Corps,[7] thwarting recruiting efforts in war time.[8][9] That column began, "Contraceptives and prophylactic equipment will be furnished to members of the WAACS, according to a super secret agreement reached by the high ranking officers of the War Department and the WAAC chieftain, Mrs. William Pettus Hobby…."[10] This followed O'Donnell's June 7 column discussing efforts of women journalists and congresswomen to dispel "the gaudy stories of the gay and careless way in which the young ladies in uniform … disport themselves…."[11] Although the allegations were refuted,[12][13][14] the "fat was in the fire. The morals of the WAACs became a topic of general discussion…."[15] Denials of O'Donnell's fabrications[16] and others like them were ineffectual.[17] According to Mattie Treadwell's Army history, as long as three years after O'Donnell's column, "religious publications were still to be found reprinting the story, and actually attributing the columnist's lines to Director Hobby. Director Hobby's picture was labeled 'Astounding Degeneracy' …."[18]

On Oct. 3, 1945, O'Donnell wrote in his column that Gen. George S. Patton had been removed from his Army command in Bavaria thanks to "the secret and astoundingly effective might of this republic's foreign-born political leaders -- such as Justice of the Supreme Court Felix Frankfurter of Vienna, White House administrative assistant Dave (Devious Dave) Niles, alias Neyhaus, and the Latvian ex-rabbinical student now known as Sidney Hillman." O'Donnell claimed that this pressure came about because the soldier whom Patton had slapped two years earlier, Charles H. Kuehl, was Jewish, and Patton allegedly used antisemitic epithets while slapping him.[19] In fact, Kuehl was not Jewish, nor was another soldier whom Patton slapped that same month, Paul G. Bennett. All of the officials named denied any involvement in Patton's removal, and Patton himself denied ever making statements "denigrating any soldier's religion." Days later, O'Donnell was forced to retract the column, writing: "On the evidence, our statements in Capitol Stuff were untrue."[20] Numerous advertisers boycotted the Daily News over O'Donnell's blatantly anti-Jewish language.[21]

Personal life

O'Donnell married and divorced three times.[2] His second marriage, in 1930, was to fellow journalist Doris Fleeson; their daughter, Doris, was born two years later. O'Donnell and Fleeson divorced in 1942, after their political views had begun to diverge.[22] During his marriage to Fleeson, he worked with her on a column called "Capitol Stuff".[23] He died on December 17, 1961, at Georgetown University Hospital.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Retired N.Y. News Chief in Capital Dies". Chicago Tribune. 18 December 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "John O'Donnell, Columnist, Dead" (PDF). New York Times. 18 December 1961. p. 35. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Roosevelt Sends Reporter Iron Cross" (PDF). New York Times. AP. 14 December 1942. p. 23. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "George E. Durno, News Editor, Dies" (PDF). New York Times. 28 January 1957. p. 23. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  5. ↑ Adams, Phelps (20 December 1942). "F.D.R. Outburst Called New Low in Vilification". Chicago Tribune. p. 5. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Ann Pfau, Miss Yourlovin: GIs, Gender, and Domesticity during World War II (Columbia University Press, 2008), chap. 2, online "Forced to retract his allegations, O'Donnell and his publisher remained determined to discredit the corps. Soon after this incident, O'Donnell was discovered 'canvassing Army general hospitals.' He sought [to] ascertain the number of Waacs hospitalized for pregnancy and thus defend his reputation with undeniable proof of promiscuity." Footnote omitted.
  7. ↑ Bellafaire 1972
  8. ↑ "Editorial: The WAACs Are All Right". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. June 16, 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Treadwell 1954, pp. 249
  10. ↑ O'Donnell, John (June 9, 1943). "Capitol Stuff". New York Daily News. pp. 4, 356. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  11. ↑ O'Donnell, John (June 9, 1943). "Capitol Stuff". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 4. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "WAC Gossip Lie, Says Stimson". New York Daily News. AP. June 11, 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Pyle, Ernie (July 8, 1943). "Ernie Pyle About WACs: Mothers Needn't Worry—Girls Safe, Doing Big Job". Boston Globe. p. 24. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  14. ↑ Lardner, John (June 9, 1943). "Lardner: WAACs Good Soldiers: Writer Resents Jokes That Have Been Written About Them and Refutes Slanderous Rumors—Praises Service in Africa". Indianapolis Star. p. 19. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Morals Are Good: Probe of WAACs Finds No Truth in Charges". Tipton Daily Tribune. Indiana. July 6, 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  16. ↑ Treadwell 1954, pp. 201–03
  17. ↑ Treadwell 1954, pp. 216–18
  18. ↑ Treadwell 1954, pp. 205 Footnote omitted.
  19. ↑ "Capitol Stuff," New York Daily News, Oct. 3, 1945
  20. ↑ "Capitol Stuff, New York Daily News, Oct. 8, 1945
  21. ↑ Leonard Lyons, "The Lyons Den," New York Post, Oct. 23, 1945
  22. ↑ "Doris Fleeson, Columnist, Dies; Winner of Journalism Honors". The New York Times. 2 August 1970. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  23. ↑ Boylan, James (July 2010). "Brief Encounters". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2 May 2017.

References

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