Jack Anderson

Jack Anderson (Jackson Northman Anderson), (born October 19, 1922, Long Beach, California), is a former United States newspaper columnist, and is considered one of the fathers of investigative reporting. Anderson won a 1972 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on secret relations between the US and Pakistan.

Muckraker emeritus

Anderson feuded with former FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s, when he exposed the scope of the Mafia, a threat that Hoover had long downplayed. Hoover's retaliation, and continual harassment, lasted into the 1970s.

Related Topics:
FBI - J. Edgar Hoover

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Anderson grew close to Joseph McCarthy, and the two exchanged information from sources, but when Pearson went after McCarthy, Anderson reluctantly followed at first, then actively assisted with the eventual downfall of his one-time friend.

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In the mid-1960s, Anderson exposed the corruption of Senator Thomas Dodd, which could well have earned him a Pulitzer, as could his finding of a memo by an ITT executive admitting the company paid off Richard Nixon's campaign to stymie anti-trust prosecution.

Related Topics:
Thomas Dodd - ITT - Richard Nixon's - Anti-trust

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Anderson collaborated with Pearson on The Case against Congress, published in 1969.

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In 1972, in an overlooked nadir of American political history, Anderson was the target of a Mafia-style hit ordered in the White House. Two Nixon administration conspirators admitted under oath they plotted to poison Anderson on orders from a top aide to the President. White House 'plumbers' G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt met with a CIA operative to discuss the possibilities, including drugging Anderson with LSD, poisoning his aspirin bottle, or staging a fatal mugging. The conspirators were never ordered to proceed, and the plot aborted, when the plotters were arrested as a result of the Watergate break-in. Nixon had long been angry with Anderson, blaming the columnist for his loss of the 1960 presidential election, because of an election-eve story about a secret loan from Howard Hughes to Nixon's brother.

Related Topics:
1972 - Nadir - Mafia-style hit - Nixon administration - Conspirators - Oath - Poison - G. Gordon Liddy - E. Howard Hunt - CIA - LSD - Mugging - Watergate - 1960 presidential election - Howard Hughes

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Anderson's unorthodox methods of obtaining news stories were influenced by his Mormon faith, viewing investigative reporting as a noble calling from God.

Related Topics:
Faith - God

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