Mark Sullivan (September 10, 1874 – August 13, 1952) was an American journalist and syndicated political columnist. Author of the six-volume, 3,740-page ''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925'' (1926–1935), he was described as a "giant of American journalism"Richard C. Brown, "Mark Sullivan Views the New Deal from Avondale", ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'', 99(3), July 1975, 351–361. . and the "

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

of the United States Press"."Mark Sullivan", ''Time'' magazine, November 18, 1935, reproduced in "Mark Sullivan: His Training and his History", ''The Decatur Daily Review'', 22 November 1935, 10.

Early life and education

Sullivan was born the last of 10 children, including seven boys, to Julia Gleason Sullivan and Cornelius Sullivan, who had moved to the United States from Ireland and bought a farm in London Grove Township, near Avondale in southern

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

. His father was also a rural mail carrier. After attending West Chester Normal School from the age of 14, Sullivan went to work for the ''Morning Republican'' in West Chester in 1892 as a reporter, then saved $300 to become co-owner, with John Miller, of the ''Phoenixville Republican'', which Sullivan edited.Joseph S. Kennedy
"Columnist's words influence politics: Chesco's Mark Sullivan informed the nation during the first half of 20th century"
''Philadelphia Inquirer'', 2 May 2004. Archived 17 August 2016.Edd Applegate, "Mark Sullivan (1874–1952)", ''Muckrakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers and Editors'', Scarecrow Press, 2008, 175–178. In 1896 he went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, obtaining an A.B. in 1900 and a law degree three years later; when he graduated, he sold his shares in the ''Phoenixville Republican''. While at Harvard, he wrote for the ''

Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published for over a century from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. History Founding ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James We ...

''.Joseph S. Kennedy
"Columnist's words influence politics: Chesco's Mark Sullivan informed the nation during the first half of 20th century"
''Philadelphia Inquirer'', 2 May 2004. Archived 17 August 2016.

Career

Early career

In October 1901, the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'' published an article by Sullivan, "The Ills of Pennsylvania", on corruption among local and state officials who were reportedly accepting bribes. A focal point was

Matthew Quay Matthew Stanley Quay (; September 30, 1833May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his ...

, the local Republican senator. Sullivan alleged that Pennsylvania was "politically the most corrupt state in the union" and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

"the most evil large city in America". The article triggered a widespread debate about honesty in politics and the role of the press. Sullivan briefly practiced law in New York City (he said his law career was "as brief as it was briefless"), then returned to journalism. After writing for the ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century ...

'' about misleading advertising for

patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...

s, he was hired in 1905 by ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...

'' as a staff writer. In 1906, along with

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', ''The Song of the Lark (novel), The Song of the Lark'', a ...

Georgine Milmine Georgine Milmine Welles Adams ( 1871 – 27 August 1950) best known as Georgine Milmine, was a Canadian-American journalist most known for writing about Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. Milmine, along with Willa Cather and othe ...

Will Irwin William Henry Irwin (September 14, 1873 – February 24, 1948) was an American author, writer, and journalist who was associated with the muckrakers. Early life Irwin was born in 1873 in Oneida, New York. In his early childhood, the Irwin fa ...

, and

Burton J. Hendrick Burton Jesse Hendrick (December 8, 1870 – March 23, 1949), born in New Haven, Connecticut, was an American author. While attending Yale University, Hendrick was editor of both ''The Yale Courant'' and '' The Yale Literary Magazine''. He receive ...

, Sullivan became part of the ''McClure's'' team that produced a series of 14 investigative articles on

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (née Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the ''Mother Church'' of the Christian Science movement. She also founded ''The C ...

, founder of the

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

church. In his autobiography, ''The Education of an American'', Sullivan described how he spent time fact-checking in New England. The series was published as a book in 1909, '' The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science''. After ''McClure's'', Sullivan moved to ''

Collier's Weekly } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', where he became an associate editor, then editor in 1912. He also wrote a regular column, "Comment on Congress", from 1908 until 1919. When Sullivan joined the ''

New York Evening Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost.com; PageSix.com, a gossip site; and Decider.com, an entertainm ...

'' in 1919 as its Washington correspondent, the newspaper's president, Edwin F. Gay, wrote: "His ability, his vision, his knowledge of human reactions and twenty years of Political study are coupled with unquestionable sincerity, plus 100 percent of rugged Americanism." While living in Washington, on Wyoming Avenue, he and his wife became friends with

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

, who lived nearby on S Street; the close relationship continued when Hoover became president in 1929, to the point where Sullivan was viewed as one of Hoover's spokespersons. Describing feelings in the Midwest, Sullivan wrote in 1928: "I don't like

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, but I'm going to vote for Hoover because I'd rather eat than drink."

''New York Herald-Tribune''

In the early 1920s Sullivan joined the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'' (later named the ''

New York Herald-Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'') and became a syndicated political columnist. Between 1924 and 1952 he wrote nearly 6,000 columns, usually "Mark Sullivan Says", for the ''Herald-Tribune'' and others. During the same period, he wrote his six-volume ''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925'' (1926–1935).

Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurrica ...

, who edited the material to produce one volume, wrote in 1996 that "no series of nonfiction books, all on the same general subject by the same author over such a compact space of writing time, ever captured the country so completely, sold so well, was so widely read and acclaimed, and had such a lasting, growing reputation for excellence". Sullivan said in 1935 that he was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as ...

was my only political god") and that consistent with liberalism he sought to "take power away from the state".

Michael Hiltzik Michael A. Hiltzik (born November 9, 1952) is an American columnist, reporter and author who has written extensively for the ''Los Angeles Times''. In 1999, he won a beat reporting Pulitzer Prize for co-writing a series of articles about corrupti ...

described him in 2011 as a progressive who "moved steadily rightward". By 1935 his view of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

was "frankly apocalyptic", in Hiltzik's view.Michael Hiltzik, ''The New Deal: A Modern History'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011, 340–341. In 1937, after the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The law created the Social Security (United States), Social Security program as ...

was signed into law, he made his secretary of 17 years, Mabel Shea, famous by asking why she should be forced to pay 35 cents

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

out of her weekly paycheck of $35 (equivalent to $ in ). This led ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine to publish that Sullivan had an annual income of $23,417 (over $408,000 in 2018). During a press briefing, Roosevelt said Sullivan was arguing that Shea had the "absolute freedom, as an American citizen, to starve to death when she got to be sixty-five if she wanted to". He suggested that Sullivan raise her salary.

Personal life

Sullivan and his wife, Marie McMechan Buchanan Sullivan,"Heart attack fatal to Mark Sullivan", ''The Pittsburgh Press'', August 14, 1952, 39. married in 1907. She died in 1940. The couple had two daughters, Narcissa and Sydney, and a son, Mark Jr.

Death

Sullivan became the owner of his parents' farm in London Grove and continued to regard it as his home. When he died, aged 77, of a heart attack in 1952, he was taken to hospital from the same bedroom in which he had been born."Mark Sullivan, Columnist, 78", ''The Herald-News'', August 14, 1952, 34. His estate was valued at $65,000 (over $600,000 in 2018), most of which went to his children, including 200 acres of farmland. He left Mabel Shea $10,000."Mark Sullivan Estate Valued at $65,000", ''The Times-Tribune'', September 26, 1952, 13."Children Share Sullivan Estate", ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', September 25, 1952, 8.

Selected works

*''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: The Turn of the Century, 1900–1904''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926. *''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: America Finding Herself''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927. *''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: Pre-War America''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930. *''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: The War Begins, 1909–1914''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1932. *''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: Over Here, 1914–1918''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933. *''Our Times: The United States, 1900–1925: The Twenties''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935
online
*''The Education of an American''. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1938 (autobiography).