Opinions for Sale

In the early twentieth century, a kind of writer emerged whose job was to give social and political opinions. The opinions, backed some but not all the time by facts, made for popular reading in newspaper columns across the United States.

Hence the name of a book I just finished, The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson’s Washington. For nearly forty years, Drew Pearson (shown below with Lyndon B. Johnson) wrote a column called the Washington Merry-Go-Round, in which he expressed strong political opinions and then stood by them.

Other columnists appeared on the scene: Walter Lippmann, Joseph Alsop, H. L. Mencken, Jack Anderson. (Note that all of them are men.) Pearson himself spoke eloquently about mistakes he made: “Being human, I make mistakes. But I endeavor, when I do make them, to correct them.” 

In more recent years, two of our finest columnists were Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who initially uncovered the Watergate scandal and then went on to write other distinguished books, several about scandal in the Nixon Whitehouse.   

One fascinating aspect of Drew Pearson’s career was the power he held over his readers. The readers frequently agreed with Pearson, simply because his opinions were strong and well-expressed.

I recommend this book, not because it’s entertaining (though it is) but because Pearson’s life was so wrapped up in the life of the American people.