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

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sport ...

from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, 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 sove ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. On Sundays, 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 that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

political opinions of its late publisher, William Loeb, and his wife, Elizabeth Scripps "Nackey" Loeb. The paper helped to derail the candidacy in 1972 of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

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, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 6 ...

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination. 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. Over the decades, the Loebs gained considerable influence and helped shape New Hampshire's political landscape. In 2000, after Nackey'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.

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, later

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and financed by then-Governor Robert P. Bass, a member of the

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

(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. 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'' still publishes the ''Sunday News'' as its Sunday edition. Two notable early employees of the ''New Hampshire Sunday News'' were Ralph M. Blagden, the first managing editor, and an even more prominent journalist he mentored,

Benjamin C. Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...

. Bradlee was then a reporter but became executive editor of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' for nearly 30 years and was its vice president until his death in 2014. 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 a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusett ...

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

Institutional pedigree

(Scroll to view more recent mergers and events which are to the right.)

Contributors

* John DiStaso * Tom Fahey

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 and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which Citizenship of the United States, citizens of the United States who are Voter registration in the United States, registered to vote in o ...

, 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 owner-publishers have invariably made their opinions known in print, which has frequently prompted harsh criticism and accusations that the paper is used for not-entirely-journalistic purposes. In 2016, the ''Union Leader'' endorsed

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

candidate

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

for president—the first time in 100 years that the paper and its predecessors had not endorsed a Republican. In a signed editorial, McQuaid denounced

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

as "a liar, a bully, a buffoon." In 2020, the ''Union Leader'' endorsed

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate Joe Biden for president, stating, "Building this country up sits squarely within the skill set of Joseph Biden."

Cutbacks

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.

NewHampshire.com

NewHampshire.com is a website created by the ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' in 1999 as an information portal for arts and entertainment, community news, recreation and local business information for the state of New Hampshire.

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

''The Union Leader''/''New Hampshire Sunday News''

''NewHampshire.com''

''Neighborhood News''
a subsidiary of the ''Union Leader''

with Joseph W. McQuaid
NHPR 2007 interview
with Joseph W. McQuaid, "25 in 25: Joe McQuaid", by Laura Knoy
NHPR 2001 interview
with Joseph W. McQuaid, "Carrying the Torch at the ''Union Leader''", by John Walters 1863 establishments in New Hampshire Publications established in 1863 Conservative media in the United States Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Manchester, New Hampshire Newspapers published in New Hampshire