James Campbell Hagerty (May 9, 1909 – April 11, 1981) served as the eighth

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

from 1953 to 1961 during the

Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following his landslide victor ...

. He was known for providing much more detail on the lifestyle of the president than previous press secretaries; for example, he covered in great detail Eisenhower's medical condition. Most of the time, he handled routine affairs such as daily reports on presidential activities, defending presidential policies, and assisting diplomatic visitors. He handled embarrassing episodes, such as those related to the Soviet downing of an American spy plane, the U-2 in 1960. He handled press relations on Eisenhower's international trips, sometimes taking the blame from a hostile foreign press. Eisenhower often relied on him for advice about public opinion, and how to phrase complex issues. Hagerty had a reputation for supporting civil rights initiatives.

Early life

After his Irish Catholic family moved to New York when he was 3 years old, James Hagerty attended Evander Childs High School in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, before enrolling in and graduating from Blair Academy, which he attended for his last two years in high school. He graduated from Columbia College in 1934, and worked as a reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Political career

He became the press secretary to Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey in 1943, and handled Dewey's presidential campaigns in 1944 and in 1948. He was in charge of candidate Eisenhower's press office in the 1952 campaign, leading to his appointment as Press Secretary in January 1953. He introduced television cameras to press conferences in 1955. He occasionally handled political assignments from Eisenhower, such as liaison with the Senate.

"Hagerty Incident"

In 1960, Hagerty was at the center of a major diplomatic incident between the United States and Japan. On June 10, Hagerty arrived at Tokyo's

Haneda Airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...

to make advance preparations for a planned visit to Japan by Eisenhower that was scheduled for later that month. Hagerty was picked up in a black car by US Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II (the nephew of the famous general), but as the car left the airport it was surrounded by 6,000 Japanese protesters protesting the revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty as part of the broader 1960 Anpo protests. The protesters surrounded the car, rocking it back and forth for more than an hour while cracking its windows, smashing its tail lights, standing on its roof, and chanting anti-American slogans and singing protest songs. Ultimately, MacArthur and Hagerty had to be rescued by a

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

military helicopter, creating indelible imagery of the so-called that was transmitted by newswires around the world. The Hagerty Incident shocked much of the Japanese public, insofar as it was seen as a grave discourtesy to a foreign guest, and contributed to the cancellation of Eisenhower's visit, for fear that his safety could not be guaranteed, as well as the forced resignation of Japanese prime minister

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...

shortly thereafter.

Television work

Hagerty appeared as a mystery challenger on the March 10, 1957, and panelist on the June 23, 1957 episodes of ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' After Eisenhower left office in January 1961, Hagerty became a vice president of the ABC television network, serving from 1961–1975.

Quotes

"If you lose your temper at a newspaper columnist, he'll get rich or famous or both."

References

External links

Papers of James C. Hagerty, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagerty, James Campbell 1909 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American writers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Blair Academy alumni Eisenhower administration personnel The New York Times journalists White House press secretaries Columbia College (New York) alumni New York (state) Republicans