George Edward Akerson (September 5, 1889 – December 21, 1937) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and the first official

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 ...

Early life

Akerson was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

, taking classes in Science, Literature and Art. In 1910 Akerson started at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, later receiving a BA in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1912. Akerson married Harriet Blake, a

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

graduate, on June 28, 1915. They had three sons.

Early career

During his collegiate years, Akerson worked summers at the

Minneapolis Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the seventh-largest in the United States by circula ...

. After graduating from Harvard, Akerson worked there full-time as a reporter, with the

1912 Democratic National Convention The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. The Convention The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 t ...

as one of his first assignments. The ''Tribune'' made Akerson its Washington correspondent in 1921. While in Washington in the 1920s, Akerson advised the Republican Party on how to compete with the rising

Non-Partisan League The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer (party), organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan ...

and Progressive movements in the Upper Midwest. That work brought Akerson to the attention of

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

, who was then the

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

. Hoover had Akerson named as the secretary of the commission that ran the 1926

Sesquicentennial Exposition The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its purpose was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversar ...

in Philadelphia, then hired Akerson as his private secretary.

White House Press Secretary

After Hoover's victory over Smith, Akerson served as White House Press Secretary, from 1929 to 1931, the first official holder of that title.''

The Shreveport Times ''The Times'' is a Gannett daily newspaper based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its distribution area includes 12 parishes in Northwest Louisiana and three counties in East Texas. Its coverage focuses on issues affecting the Shreveport-Bossier market ...

'', October 20, 1928, p. 1 During Akerson's tenure, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

experienced increasing difficulties in its relations with the press corps. On January 2, 1931, Akerson resigned to take an executive position at the

Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. Hoover replaced him with Theodore Goldsmith Joslin.

Later career and death

Akerson worked at Paramount for two years, then became the executive secretary of the National Code Authority of the Paper Distributing Trade. Still aged in his 40s, Akerson developed

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

and died in 1937.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071004214651/http://www.whitehousehistory.org/03/subs_press/02.swf * http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=22676 * Moffett, L. W. "Akerson, Hoover's Right Hand Man, Surely Is The Boy Who Made Good." ''The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi'' (December 1929), pgs. 113-121. * "G. E. Akerson Dies; Ex-Aide to Hoover." ''New York Times'' (Dec. 22, 1937), pg. 25.

Notes

External links

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External links

{{commons category, George Akerson 1889 births 1937 deaths Journalists from Minneapolis Presbyterians from Minnesota Minnesota Republicans New York (state) Republicans White House press secretaries Personal secretaries to the president of the United States American newspaper reporters and correspondents Harvard College alumni University of Minnesota alumni Deaths from kidney disease