Midge Decter (née Rosenthal; July 25, 1927 – May 9, 2022) was an American journalist and author.
Originally a liberal, she was one of the pioneers of the
neoconservative movement in the 1970s and 1980s.
She was a critic of feminism and the
women's liberation movement
The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...
.
Early life
Decter was born in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
, on July 25, 1927.
She was the youngest of three daughters of Rose (née Calmenson) and Harry Rosenthal, a sporting goods merchant. Her family was middle-class and Jewish.
She attended the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
for one year, the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...
from 1946 to 1948, and
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, but did not graduate from any of them.
She initially identified as a
liberal on the
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...
.
Career
Decter was assistant editor at ''
Midstream
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of cr ...
'', before working as secretary to the then-editor of ''
Commentary'',
Robert Warshow.
Later she was the executive editor of ''
Harper's Magazine
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'' under
Willie Morris.
She then began working in publishing as an editor at
Basic Books
Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...
and
Legacy Books.
Her writing has been published in ''Commentary'', ''
First Things'', ''
The Atlantic
''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 185 ...
'', ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
The Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...
'', and ''
The American Spectator''.
Together with
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
, Decter was the co-chair of the
Committee for the Free World, an anti-communist organization.
She was one of the original champions of the
neoconservative movement with her spouse,
Norman Podhoretz.
She was also a founder of the
Independent Women's Forum, and was founding treasurer for the Northcote Parkinson Fund, founded and chaired by
John Train. She was a member of the board of trustees for
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...
.
She was also a board member of the
Center for Security Policy and the
Clare Boothe Luce Fund.
A member of the
Philadelphia Society, she was, for a time, its president.
Decter was arguably the leading antifeminist in the United States prior to Phyllis Schlafly's rise to prominence.
She was a critic of the women's liberation movement.
She defended "traditional" gender roles and "family values."
She was a critic of the
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Not ...
movement.
Following a tongue-in-cheek remark by
Russell Kirk, the Society's founder, about the prevalence of Jewish intellectuals in the neoconservative movement, Decter labelled Kirk an
anti-Semite
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. She was also a senior fellow at the
Institute of Religion and Public Life.
She was one of the signatories to Statement of Principles for the
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative
*"The PNAC's 33 leaders were highly connected with the American state – displaying 115 such connections: 27 with the Department of Defense, 13 with State, 12 with the Whit ...
. Decter served on the national advisory board of
Accuracy in Media
Accuracy in Media (AIM) is an American non-profit conservative news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine.
AIM supported the Vietnam War and blamed media bias for the U.S. loss in the war. During the Reagan administration, ...
.
In 2008, Midge Decter received the
Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom from the
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Personal life
Decter married her first husband,
Moshe Decter, in 1948.
[ Together, they had two children: Naomi and ]Rachel
Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
, who predeceased Decter in 2013. They divorced in 1954. Two years later, she married Norman Podhoretz, a neoconservative, who went on to become editor of '' Commentary'' magazine. They remained married until her death. Together, they had two children: Ruthie Blum and John Podhoretz.
Decter lived most of her adult life in Manhattan. She died on May 9, 2022, at her home in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. She was 94 years old.
Publications
* ''Losing the First Battle, Winning the War''
* ''The Liberated Woman and Other Americans'' (1970)
* ''The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women's Liberation'' (1972)
* ''Liberal Parents, Radical Children'' (1975)
* ''An Old Wife's Tale: My Seven Decades in Love and War'' (2001)
* ''Always Right: Selected Writings of Midge Decter'' (2002)
* ''Rumsfeld : A Personal Portrait'' (2003)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decter, Midge
1927 births
2022 deaths
The Heritage Foundation people
Jewish American journalists
Jewish American non-fiction writers
Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota
New York University alumni
Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni
University of Minnesota alumni
National Humanities Medal recipients
The American Spectator people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
American women journalists
21st-century American Jews
Jewish women writers
Neoconservatism