John Donald MacArthur (March 6, 1897 – January 6, 1978) was an American insurance magnate, real estate investor and philanthropist who established the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, benefactor in the

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

Early life

John Donald MacArthur was born on March 6, 1897 in

Pittston, Pennsylvania Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...

, as the seventh child to Georginna and Reverend William Telfer MacArthur.McGoun, William E., Southeast Florida Pioneers: The Palm and Treasure Coasts, 1998, Sarasota: Pineapple Press, p. 167 He moved from Pittston to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

at the age of five. He and his many siblings grew up in poverty, the children of an itinerant

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

preacher and his resourceful wife. His father went through many evangelical trainings, moving his family all around the country, from Chicago to

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately no ...

to Springfield, Massachusetts. His sister-in-law was the actress Helen Hayes. His brother, American playwright and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning screenwriter

Charles MacArthur Charles Gordon MacArthur (November 5, 1895 – April 21, 1956) was an American playwright, screenwriter and 1935 winner of the Academy Award for Best Story. Life and career MacArthur was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven chil ...

, co-authored the play ''

The Front Page ''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times. Plot T ...

''. John MacArthur dropped out of school after eighth grade and became a salesman.

Career

World War I

MacArthur joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and then the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was medically discharged from service.

Insurance career

MacArthur made his fortune in the mail-order insurance business. He acquired the Bankers Life and Casualty Company, an insurance company defeated by the Great Depression, in 1935 after borrowing $2,500, then went on to build a business empire by acquiring many small insurance corporations. In the 1950s he signed famed broadcaster

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous '' The Rest ...

as his company's

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

spokesperson.

Real estate investments in Florida

MacArthur also increased his vast fortune by heavily and lucratively investing in Florida real estate. By the time of his death, he owned 100,000 acres of real estate in Florida. In 1954 for $5.5 million MacArthur bought of land in northern

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

originally owned by Harry Seymor Kelsey and later by Sir Harry Oakes. It included most of today's Lake Park, North Palm Beach,

Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

and Palm Beach Shores. For many years, MacArthur conducted his business affairs from a corner table in the Colonnades Beach Hotel coffee shop, in Palm Beach Shores, where he and his wife lived in an apartment above the bar, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the

Lake Worth Lagoon The Lake Worth Lagoon is a lagoon located in Palm Beach County, Florida. It runs parallel to the coast, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier beaches, including Palm Beach Island. The lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by two ...

.Lowery, Fred
"Celebrity Days Remembered As Colonnades Hotel Is Razed"
'' South Florida Sun-Sentinel'', February 17, 1990

Personal life

MacArthur first married the former Louise Ingalls and had two children: a son, U.S. businessman and philanthropist J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984); and a daughter, Virginia MacArthur. The couple divorced in 1937. In 1938 MacArthur married his secretary Catherine T. MacArthur (née Hyland), who for decades intimately involved herself in the management of his companies, and after whom his charitable foundation is co-named. John R. MacArthur, the president of '' Harper's Magazine'' and son of J. Roderick MacArthur, is a grandson of John D. MacArthur.

Death

On January 6, 1978, he died of pancreatic cancer at

Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital or Good Samaritan Medical Center may refer to: India *Good Samaritan Hospital (Panamattom), Koprakalam, Panamattom, Kerala *Good Samaritan Centre, Mutholath Nagar, Cherpunkal, Kottyam, Kerala United States *Banner - Univer ...

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

Legacy

John D. MacArthur Beach State Park

John D. MacArthur Beach State Park in

North Palm Beach, Florida North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami Metropolitan Area. The population was 13,162 at the 2020 census. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Buil ...

opened to the public in 1989.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest (when ranked by asset value) private foundations in the United States.

Awards and honors

In 1977, MacArthur received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. The award was presented to him by Awards Council member Helen Hayes.

References

External links

MacArthur Foundation website

Bankers Life website

History of Bankers Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, John D. 1897 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Baptists 20th-century American philanthropists American businesspeople in insurance Baptists from Florida Baptists from Illinois Baptists from Pennsylvania Businesspeople from Chicago People from Palm Beach County, Florida People from Pittston, Pennsylvania Philanthropists from Illinois United States Navy personnel of World War I Royal Canadian Air Force personnel