Joseph M. Ungaro (November 4, 1930 – November 12, 2006) was an American journalist most famous for his question to President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

which elicited the reply " I am not a crook."

Early career

Ungaro graduated from

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

and the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

. In 1950 he began working for ''The Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin'' first as a copy boy, and then as a reporter, managing editor, and publisher.

The Question

On November 17, 1973, at the annual

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Managing Editors convention in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, Ungaro asked Nixon about his reported underpayment of

income taxes An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

in 1970 and 1971. Nixon's famous declaration came after he answered a subsequent question about the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

, posed by then president of the association Dick Smyser of

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

's ''The Oak Ridger''. At the end of that reply, Nixon doubled back to Ungaro's question, saying: "I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook." Nixon later agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Later career

Ungaro left the ''Evening Bulletin'' later that year and began working at

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...

's Westchester Rockland Newspapers in 1974 as managing editor. He later became vice president and executive editor, vice president and general manager, and then president and publisher. He was given the additional responsibilities as vice president of the Metro Newspaper Division. He later became president and chief executive of the Detroit Newspaper Agency, the company that managed a joint operating agreement between ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'' and the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

''. Ungaro's final position was at '' Stars and Stripes'', where he put together a consolidation plan for the newspaper and then became its

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Sources

Joseph Ungaro, former Journal News publisher, dies at 76
''The Journal News'' 14 November 2006.

''New York Times'' 14 November 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ungaro, Joseph American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Providence College alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni 1930 births 2006 deaths The Providence Journal people