The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, the largest city in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. On Saturdays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political opinions of its late publisher, William Loeb, and his wife, Elizabeth Scripps "Nackey" Loeb. Ownership of the paper passed from William Loeb to his wife upon his death, then to the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications upon her death, until moving to private investors in January 2025. Over the decades, the Loebs gained considerable influence and helped shape New Hampshire's political landscape. The paper helped to derail the candidacy of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981, a United States Senator from Maine from 1 ...

, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Loeb criticized Muskie's wife, Jane, in editorials. When he defended her in a press conference, there was a measured negative effect on voter perceptions of Muskie within New Hampshire.

History

Like many newspapers, the ''Union Leader'' has a complex history involving mergers and buyouts. The weekly Union became the ''Manchester Daily Union'' on March 31, 1863. The afternoon ''Union'' became a morning ''Daily Union'' (dropping the "Manchester"). Although the ''Union'' began as a Democratic paper, by the early 1910s it had been purchased by Londonderry politician Rosecrans Pillsbury, a Republican. In October 1912, the competing ''Manchester Leader'' was founded by

Frank Knox William Franklin Knox (January 1, 1874 – April 28, 1944) was an American politician, soldier, newspaper editor, and publisher. He was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936 and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt d ...

, later

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during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and financed by then-Governor Robert P. Bass, a member of the Progressive (or Bull Moose) Party who was attempting to promote the Progressive cause in New Hampshire. The newspaper was so successful that Knox bought out the ''Union'', and the two newspapers merged under the banner of the Union-Leader Corporation July 1913. Owing to Pillsbury's role in the company, both papers espoused a moderate Republican, pro-business stance. Following Knox's death in 1944, William Loeb purchased the company, merging the ''Union'' and ''Leader'' into a single morning paper, the ''Manchester Union-Leader'', in 1948. Under Loeb's watch, the ''Union-Leader'' moved sharply to the right. He often placed editorials on the front page and supported highly conservative candidates for public office. He dropped Manchester from the paper's masthead in the mid-1970s to emphasize the fact that it is the only statewide

newspaper in New Hampshire This is a list of newspapers in New Hampshire. Daily newspapers * ''The Beachcomber'' of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Hampton Beach * ''The Citizen (Laconia), The Citizen'' of Laconia, New Hampshire, Laconia (closed in 2016) * ''Concord Monit ...

. In 2000, after Nackey Loeb's death on January 8, Joseph McQuaid, the son and nephew of the founders of the ''New Hampshire Sunday News'', Bernard J. and Elias McQuaid, took over as publisher. He was succeeded by his son, Brendan, in 2020. On April 4, 2005, it changed its name to the ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' to reflect its statewide reach. However, it is still called the ''Manchester Union Leader'' by some residents due to its historical legacy. The ''New Hampshire Sunday News'' was created in 1948 and later, after Loeb's attempts to start a Sunday edition of the ''Union-Leader'' failed, was purchased by the Union-Leader Corporation. The ''Union Leader'' published the ''Sunday News'' as its Sunday edition for decades but converted it to Saturday publication as of February 10, 2024. In January 2025, majority ownership of the paper moved from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, a nonprofit organization, to two private investors. File:Manchester Union Democrat office 1877.svg, Office of the ''Manchester Daily Union'' and its publisher Campbell & Hanscom in 1877 File:Manchester Union Leader building IMG_2758.JPG, ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' building at 100 William Loeb Drive in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

File:Manchester Union - Manchester Leader 1916.png, 1916 advertisement for the then-separate ''Manchester Union'' and ''Manchester Leader'' papers

Contributors

* John DiStaso *

Tom Fahey Tom Fahey was the State House Bureau Chief of the ''New Hampshire Union Leader'', for which he wrote the "State House Dome" column. He is a regular guest on ''New Hampshire Outlook'' on New Hampshire Public Television. He left that position in No ...

* Kevin Landrigan Two notable early employees of the ''New Hampshire Sunday News'' were Ralph M. Blagden, the first managing editor, and Benjamin C. Bradlee, who was then a reporter. He later became executive editor of ''

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 ...

'' for nearly 30 years and was its vice president until his death in 2014.

Editorial style

Throughout their existence, the ''Union Leader'' and its predecessors have been closely involved in state politics and during the quadrennial

United States presidential election The election of the president of the United States, president and Vice President of the United States, vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are Voter registration in the United ...

, national politics. Ever since the Loebs bought the paper, its orientation has been unyieldingly conservative (though the paper was already a reliable supporter of the GOP long before the Loebs bought it), a tradition that continued after McQuaid took over the paper. The paper's hard-hitting editorials, sometimes written by the publisher and featured on the front page, drew national attention and frequently prompted harsh criticism: After 2018, when the newspaper laid off its full-time editorial writer, the Union Leader's brash editorial tone softened. The ''Union Leader'' had endorsed

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

in the 2012 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary,

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

in the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...

Neither candidate won the primary. In 2016, the ''Union Leader'' endorsed

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

candidate

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

for president—the first time in 100 years that the paper and its predecessors had not endorsed a Republican. The ''Union Leader'' remained a staunch opponent of Trump after his election. In 2020, it endorsed Democratic candidate

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

for president. In 2024, publisher Brendan McQuaid announced that the paper would not endorse either "terrible" presidential candidate.

Cutbacks and reduced circulation

In a message printed in the paper in early 2009, publisher Joseph McQuaid announced that owing to financial difficulties affecting the entire newspaper industry, the Saturday edition of the paper would no longer be distributed outside of the Greater Manchester area and that Saturday content would be moved to a combined Friday/Saturday edition. In 2015, the paper's flagship building at 100 William Loeb Drive was subdivided into parcels and offered for lease. In 2017, the ''Union Leader'' building was sold to investor Peter Levine for $3.8 million after being on the market for about four years. The newspaper leased back space to remain in the building at 100 William Loeb Drive. Three other tenants, two of them

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

s and a distributor, also were occupying space in the building at the time of the sale. On February 4, 2024, publisher Brendan J. McQuaid announced that future ''New Hampshire Sunday News'' editions would be distributed on Saturdays due to changes affecting the news industry including a shortage of labor. McQuaid explained that mail subscribers could now receive the ''Sunday News'' on Saturdays. After repeated rounds of layoffs over several years, the newspaper moved into smaller quarters in Manchester's downtown Millyard in the summer of 2024. The newspaper said in 2011 that its daily circulation was 45,536, rising to 64,068 on Sundays. In November 2024, New Hampshire Public Radio reported that the publisher said the Sunday circulation was about 20,000.

References

* Cash, Kevin. ''Who the Hell Is William Loeb?'' Manchester, NH: Amoskeag Press, 1975. * Roper, Scott. "''Manchester Union-Leader''{{-". In Burt Feintuch and David Watters, editors, ''Encyclopedia of New England''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005. * Wright, James. ''The Progressive Yankees: Republican Reformers in New Hampshire, 1906–1916''. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1987.

External links