Joseph Kraft (September 4, 1924 – January 10, 1986) was an American journalist.

Career

Kraft began his career in journalism at the age of 14 where he worked as a stringer covering high school sports for the New York World-Telegram. Kraft worked for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and Los Angeles Syndicate after July 1980 where he covered foreign affairs and national security. After working at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in the 1950s, he became a

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

for 1960 Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. His work landed him on the

master list of Nixon political opponents The master list of Nixon's political opponents was a secret list compiled by US President Richard Nixon's Presidential Counselor Charles Colson. It was an expansion of the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of ...

. He served as one of three panelists for the third and final debate, held at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

, in the 1976 presidential election. Kraft was viewed as one of America's foremost analysts of domestic and international affairs. His syndicated column ran in over 200 papers.

Education

Kraft was a graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He also attended the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

at Princeton and the Sorbonne.

Personal life

Kraft died on January 10, 1986, by heart failure at the age of 61. His brother, Gilman Kraft, was a publisher who was the owner of ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

''.

Publications

Kraft was the author of four books: *''The Struggle for Algeria'' (1961) *''The Grand Design'' (1962) *''Profiles in Power'' (1966) *''The Chinese Difference'' (1973) He also wrote an extraordinary journalistic account of the explosion of Mexico's debt crisis in 1982: *
The Mexican Rescue
' (1984)

References

Sources

*McFadden, Robert D. (January 11, 1986). Joseph Kraft, Capital Columnist Whose Work Ran in 200 Papers. ''

'' *Rosenblatt, Roger (Jan. 27, 1986). The Death of a Columnist. ''

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' *Staff report (February 3, 1986). Joseph Kraft, 1924–1986. (obituary). ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' 1924 births 1986 deaths American male journalists Journalists from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni 20th-century American writers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers American expatriates in France {{US-journalist-1920s-stub