Doris Fleeson (May 20, 1901 – August 1, 1970) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

and was the first woman in the United States to have a nationally syndicated political column.

Early life

Fleeson was born in

Sterling Sterling may refer to: Currency * The English penny, historically known as the ''sterling'' * Pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom * Sterling silver, a grade of silver Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city whose al ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, to clothing store manager, William Fleeson, and Helen Fleeson (née Tebbe). She was the youngest of six children. In 1918, she graduated from Sterling High School, where she was the class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

. In 1918, Fleeson attended Sterling College, then known as Cooper College, for an academic year. Fleeson went on to attend and receive a B.A. in economics from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 1923.

Career

Early career

Fleeson's first journalism job was at the '' Pittsburg Sun''. She moved to Evanston, Illinois, to become the society editor of the ''News-Index'' and then to Long Island, New York to be an editor at ''Great Neck News''. In 1927, she joined the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' as a general assignment reporter, eventually moving to the newspaper's Albany bureau to cover state politics.

Washington career

Fleeson and her husband, fellow ''Daily News'' reporter John O'Donnell, moved to Washington D.C. to work on at Daily News' Washington Bureau in 1930. They started a column together called "Capital Stuff" in 1933 that was published until their divorce in 1942. She left the ''Daily News'' in 1943 to be a war correspondent for ''

Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...

''. She reported from France and Italy during the war before returning to Washington to write a political column for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' and ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

''. In 1945, the column was picked up by the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

and distributed across the country. At its height in 1960, her column ran in about 100 newspapers.

Honors and memberships

* 1957: Fleeson received an honorary degree ( Doctor of Humane Letters,

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

) from

The Sage Colleges The Sage Colleges were a private educational institution comprising three institutions in New York State: Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy; Sage College of Albany, a co-educational college in Albany; and the Sage Graduate Sc ...

, the former

Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduat ...

. * 1954:

Raymond Clapper Memorial Award The Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, later called the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award, was an American journalism award presented from 1944 to 2011. Named in honor of Raymond Clapper (1892–1944), the award was given "to a journalist ...

, the

American Society of Newspaper Editors The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) was a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of m ...

* New York Paperwoman's Club for Distinguished Reporting * Member,

Women's National Press Club The National Press Club is a professional organization and social community in Washington, D.C. for journalists and communications professionals. It hosts public and private gatherings with invited speakers from public life. The club also offers ...

Personal life

In 1930, Fleeson married ''

'' colleague, John O'Donnell, with whom she had a daughter, Doris O'Donnell. The marriage ended in divorce in 1942. In 1958, Fleeson married

Dan A. Kimball Dan Able Kimball (March 1, 1896 – July 30, 1970) was the 51st U.S. Secretary of the Navy. Biography Kimball was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 1, 1896. He was an Army Air Service pilot during the First World War and maintained an ...

, who had been

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

from 1951 to 1953, and later was President of

Aerojet Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

attended the wedding, as did financier

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...

. In 1970, Fleeson died of complications from a stroke.