Emmett Tyrrell

Robert Emmett Tyrrell Jr. (born December 14, 1943) is an American conservative magazine editor, book author and columnist. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of '' The American Spectator'' and writes with the byline "R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr."

Background

Tyrrell was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised Roman Catholic. In 1961, he graduated from Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois.

He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he was on the swim team under coach James "Doc" Counsilman.Spectator Sport; R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
''The New York Times'', July 3, 1994 While at Indiana University, he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, living in a chapter house where Steve Tesich resided. He also has a master's degree in American Diplomatic History.

Career

Arkansas Project

Tyrrell was one of those behind the Arkansas Project, financed by Richard Mellon Scaife, to use the ''Spectator' to damage Bill Clinton’s reputation. He detailed the project's purposes and accomplishments in his 2007 book ''The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life after the White House''.Arkansas Project Led to Turmoil and Rifts
''The Washington Post'', May 2, 1999

Forced sale

In 2000, government investigations of ''The American Spectator'' caused Tyrrell to sell the magazine to venture capitalist George Gilder. In 2003, Gilder, having a series of financial and legal setbacks, resold the magazine back to Tyrrell and the American Alternative Foundation, the organization under which the magazine was originally started, for a dollar. The magazine was initially called ''The Alternative''. The name of the owner was changed to the American Spectator Foundation. The magazine then moved operations back to the Washington, DC, area. Later that year, former book publisher Alfred S. Regnery became the magazine's publisher. By 2004, circulation hovered at around 50,000.

1984 media appearance

A noted political commentator, Tyrrell appeared on a 1984 episode of ''Firing Line'' with William F. Buckley Jr., in which he debated with Christopher Hitchens the premise that the liberal movement was a failure, as asserted in Tyrrell's book ''The Liberal Crack-up''.

Criticisms of homosexuality

Tyrrell was quoted in a 1994 article by ''New York Times'' contributor Dinitia Smith saying that homosexuals are bringing about "an end to community," and "AIDS is lethal, but they're forever trying to magnify a sensible point out of proportion. Heterosexual cases are practically nonexistent. The latest studies show that only 2 to 3 percent of Americans are homosexuals. Kinsey was wrong in saying it was 10 percent. There are thousands of years of moral teaching suggesting homosexuality is wrong."

Personal life

In 1972, Tyrrell married first wife Judy Mathews, with whom he had three children; they divorced in 1988. In 1998, Tyrrell married Jeanne M. Hauch at Holy Rosary Church, Washington, D.C.

Tyrrell is a practicing Catholic. He obtained a canonical annulment of his first marriage before his present union.

He served on the Board of Selectors of the Jefferson Awards Foundation. Board

Tyrrell is the great-great-grandson of Patrick D. Tyrrell, an immigrant from Ireland and a detective in the United States Secret Service in the 1870s, involved in foiling the plot to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln in 1876. Family resemblances

Awards

*1975: Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under from the Jefferson Awards for Public Service
*1978: Ten Outstanding Young Men in America award in History. He now serves on the Board of Selectors for Jefferson Awards.

Works

Tyrrell has written for ''Time'', the ''Wall Street Journal'', the ''London Spectator'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Guardian'', ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''The Washington Times''. He was also a media fellow at the Hoover Institution.

*''Public Nuisances'' (1979)
*''The Liberal Crack-Up'' (1984)
*''Orthodoxy: The American Spectator's 20th Anniversary Anthology'' (1987)
*''The Conservative Crack-Up'' (1992)
*''Boy Clinton: The Political Biography'' (1997)
*''The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton'' (1997)
*''Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House'' (2003)
*''The Continuing Crisis: As Chronicled for Four Decades'' (2009)
*''After the Hangover: The Conservatives Road to Recovery'' (2010)
*''The Death of Liberalism'' (2011)

References

External links

*
Tyrrell on Firing Line
with William F. Buckley, Jr. and Christopher Hitchens

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrrell, Emmett
1943 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Journalists from Chicago
American male journalists
American magazine editors
American magazine founders
American political writers
American Roman Catholics
The American Spectator people
The Washington Times people
Indiana Hoosiers men's swimmers