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 colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

Early life

John Donald MacArthur was born on March 6, 1897, in

Pittston, Pennsylvania Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city lies in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River and on the south side of the Lackawanna River. It is approximately midway between Wilkes-Barre, Pen ...

, 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

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 (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

, to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. His sister-in-law was the actress

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

. His brother, American playwright and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

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 ch ...

, co-authored the play ''

The Front Page ''The Front Page'' is a Broadway theatre, 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 severa ...

''. 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 Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and then the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Can ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, 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 o ...

as his company's

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

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 in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

originally owned by Harry Seymor Kelsey and later by Sir

Harry Oakes Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet (23 December 1874 – 8 July 1943) was a British gold mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. Though American by b ...

. It included most of today's Lake Park,

North Palm Beach North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Builders as best planned commun ...

, Palm Beach Gardens and

Palm Beach Shores Palm Beach Shores is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The town is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 1,330 at the 2020 US census. Geography The approximate coordinates for the Town of ...

. For many years, MacArthur conducted his business affairs from a corner table in the Colonnades Beach Hotel coffee shop, in

Singer Island Singer Island is a peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of Palm Beach County, Florida, in the South Florida metropolitan area. Most of it is in the city of Riviera Beach, Florida, Riviera Beach, but the town of Palm Beach Shores, Flor ...

, 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 tw ...

.Lowery, Fred
"Celebrity Days Remembered As Colonnades Hotel Is Razed"
''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'', 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 (1920–1984); and a daughter, Virginia. 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 John Rick MacArthur (born June 4, 1956) is an American journalist, historian, and author of books about US politics. He is the president and publisher of ''Harper's Magazine''. Biography MacArthur is the son of J. Roderick MacArthur and Frenc ...

, the president of ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'' and son of J. Roderick MacArthur, is a grandson of John D. MacArthur.

Death

On January 6, 1978, he died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

at Good Samaritan Hospital in

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, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

Legacy

John D. MacArthur Beach State Park

John D. MacArthur Beach State Park John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, named for John D. MacArthur whose Foundation donated a portion of the land for its construction in the 1970s, is located on and just north of Singer Island, Florida in North Palm Beach, Florida. The park was ...

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 of South Florida. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Builders as best planned commun ...

, 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 foundation A private foundation is a Tax exemption, tax-exempt organization that does not rely on broad public support and generally claims to serve humanitarian purposes. Unlike a Foundation (nonprofit), charitable foundation, a private foundation does no ...

s 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 nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. The award was presented to him by Awards Council member

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

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

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