Russell Wheeler Davenport (1899 – April 19, 1954) was an American editor, political consultant, and writer.

Early life and education

Davenport was born in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, the son of Russell W. Davenport Sr., a vice president of

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

, and Cornelia Whipple Farnum. His younger brother was John Davenport, also a journalist. He served with the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

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 ...

and received the Croix de Guerre. He enrolled at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and graduated in 1923, where he was classmate of Henry Luce and

Briton Hadden Briton Hadden (February 18, 1898 – February 27, 1929) was the co-founder of ''Time'' magazine with his Yale classmate Henry Luce. He was ''Time''s first editor and the inventor of its revolutionary writing style, known as Timestyle. Though ...

, who founded ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

''. While at Yale, he became a member of the secret society

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

."Russell Wheeler Davenport." ''Dictionary of American Biography'', Supplement 5: 1951–1955. American Council of Learned Societies, 1977.

Career

Davenport joined the editorial staff of '' Fortune'' in 1930 and became managing editor in 1937. At ''Fortune'', he helped create the first Fortune 500 list. In 1940, he turned to politics and became a personal and political advisor to

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...

. Willkie was the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee for the 1940 presidential election and lost the election to

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. After Willkie's death in 1944, Davenport became a de facto leader of the internationalist Republicans. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was on the staff of ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' and ''Time'' until 1952. In 1944,

Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

published one of his works, "My Country, A Poem of America". His book ''The Dignity of Man'' was published posthumously in 1955.

Personal life

In 1929, he married the writer

Marcia Davenport Marcia Davenport (born Marcia Glick; June 9, 1903 – January 16, 1996) was an American writer and music critic. She is best known for her 1932 biography of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart. Dave ...

; they divorced in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Russell 1899 births 1954 deaths American magazine publishers (people) Yale University alumni Writers from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Fortune (magazine) people Pennsylvania Republicans United States Army personnel of World War I