Stewart Johonnot Oliver Alsop (May 17, 1914 – May 26, 1974) was an American newspaper columnist and political analyst.

Early life

Alsop was born and raised in Avon, Connecticut, from an old Yankee family. Alsop attended

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. His parents were Joseph Wright Alsop IV (1876–1953) and Corinne Douglas Robinson (1886–1971). Through his mother, he was a grandnephew of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

Early career

After graduating from Yale in 1936, Alsop moved to New York City, where he worked as an editor for the publishing house of Doubleday, Doran.

World War II

After the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Alsop joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

because his

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

precluded his joining the US Army. On June 20, 1944, Alsop married Patricia Barnard "Tish" Hankey (1926-2012), an Englishwoman. A month after the wedding, Alsop was allowed to transfer to the US Army, and he was immediately sent on a mission planned by the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

(OSS). For the mission, Alsop was parachuted into the Périgord region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to aid the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. Alsop was later awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm for his work on that and other wartime missions. Alsop worked with and for the OSS for the rest of the war.

Journalism

From 1945 to 1958, Stewart Alsop was co-writer, with his brother Joseph, of the thrice-weekly "Matter of Fact" column for the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Stewart usually stayed in Washington and covered domestic politics, and Joseph traveled the world to cover foreign affairs. In 1958, the Alsops described themselves as "Republicans by inheritance and registration, and... conservatives by political conviction." After the Alsop brothers ended their partnership, Stewart went on to write articles and a regular column for the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' until 1968 and then a weekly column for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' from 1968 to 1974. In January 1960 he wrote an article for the ''Post'' titled ''I saw what makes communism work''. He published several books, including a "sort of memoir" of his battle with an unusual form of leukemia, ''Stay of Execution''. He wrote, "A dying man wants to die like a sleepy man wants to sleep." At the end of his battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, he requested that he be given something other than

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

to numb the pain because he was tired of its sedative effect. His doctor suggested

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

Family

On June 20, 1944, Alsop married Patricia Barnard "Tish" Hankey (1926-2012), whom he met while training in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where she lived. Together, they had six children: Joseph Wright Alsop VI; Ian; Elizabeth Winthrop, a children's book author; Stewart Alsop Jr., an investor and pundit; Richard Nicholas, a Curriculum Coordinator at Josh McDowell Ministry; and Andrew Alsop.

Burial

Alsop is interred at the Indian Hill Cemetery in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...

Written works

* ''Sub Rosa : The O.S.S. and American Espionage'' (1946, with Thomas Braden) * ''We Accuse! The Story of the Miscarriage of American Justice in the Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' (1954, with Joseph Alsop) * ''The Reporter's Trade'' (1958, with Joseph Alsop) * ''Nixon & Rockefeller : A Double Portrait'' (1960) * ''The Center : People and Power in Political Washington'' (1968) * ''Stay of Execution : A Sort of Memoir'' (1973)

References

Citations

Sources

* Joseph W. Alsop, with Adam Platt, ''"I've Seen the Best of It": Memoirs'' (NY: W.W. Norton, 1992) * Herken, Gregg. ''The Georgetown Set: Friends and Rivals in Cold War Washington'' (2014), covers both brothers

* Yoder, Jr., Edwin M. ''Joe Alsop's Cold War: A Study of Journalistic Influence and Intrigue'' (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995)

External links

Oral History Interview with Stewart Alsop, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library''Booknotes'' interview with Robert Merry on ''Taking on the World: Joseph and Stewart Alsop - Guardians of the American Century'', March 24, 1996.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alsop, Stewart 1914 births 1974 deaths Burials at Indian Hill Cemetery People from Avon, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Writers from Connecticut Roosevelt family American columnists Bulloch family Schuyler family People of the Office of Strategic Services Connecticut Republicans Washington, D.C., Republicans 20th-century American male writers British Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of World War II American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) United States Army soldiers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Alsop family Yale University alumni