Ronald Peter Straus (February 15, 1923 – August 6, 2012) was an American media proprietor. He was the president of WMCA, a radio station in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, and the chairman of Straus News, a publisher of newspapers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was the director of

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

from 1977 to 1979.

Early life

Ronald Peter Straus was born on February 15, 1923, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, New York City. His father,

Nathan Straus Jr. Nathan Straus Jr. (May 27, 1889 – September 13, 1961) was an American journalist and politician from New York. Life He was the son of Lina (née Gutherz) and Nathan Straus (1848–1931), co-owner of Macy's department store. He attended Prince ...

, was a state senator and the owner of WMCA, a radio station in New York City. His mother was Helen Sachs, daughter of

Bernard Sachs Bernard Sachs (January 2, 1858 – February 8, 1944) was an American neurologist. Early life and education After graduating with a B.A. from Harvard in 1878, Sachs travelled to Europe and studied under some of the more prominent physicians ...

, a noted neurologist for which

Tay–Sachs disease Tay–Sachs disease is a genetic disorder that results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The most common form is infantile Tay–Sachs disease, which becomes apparent around three to six months of age, with the baby ...

is named. His grandfather,

Nathan Straus Nathan Straus (January 31, 1848 – January 11, 1931) was an American merchant and philanthropist who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department stores, R. H. Macy & Company and Abraham & Straus. He is a founding father and namesake f ...

, was the owner of

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. Straus graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1944, and served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

in Germany 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 ...

Career

Straus began his career by working in public relations for

Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known ca ...

. He worked for the

International Labor Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

in Geneva, Switzerland from 1950 to 1955, and he was the head of its Washington office from 1955 to 1958. Straus was appointed as the president of WMCA, the radio station owned by his family, in 1959. According to ''The New York Times'', Straus "turned it into one of the nation's most innovative radio stations, broadcasting what are regarded as the first radio editorials and political endorsements and helping to popularize rock 'n' roll." When the Strauses sold WMCA in 1986, they purchased "several weekly newspapers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania", and Strauss became the chairman of Straus News. Straus was a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United S ...

from New York to the

1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...

and

1964 Democratic National Convention The 1964 Democratic National Convention of the Democratic Party, took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a full term. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Min ...

s, and "a longtime supporter of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

." He was the director of African affairs at the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...

(USAID) from 1967 to 1969, and the director of

from 1977 to 1979. He was the author of three books.

Personal life and death

Straus married Ellen Louise Sulzberger, the niece of

Arthur Hays Sulzberger Arthur Hays Sulzberger (September 12, 1891December 11, 1968) was the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the st ...

and cousin of

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Sr. (February 5, 1926 – September 29, 2012) was an American publisher and a businessman. Born into a prominent media and publishing family, Sulzberger became publisher of ''The New York Times'' in 1963 and chairman of t ...

, publishers of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. They had four children: Diane Straus Tucker; Katherine Straus Caple (married to Blair Charles Caple); Jeanne Straus Tofel (divorced from

Richard Tofel Richard Tofel is the principal of Gallatin Advisory, a journalism consultancy, and former president of ProPublica, a non-profit investigative journalism organization. He was the general manager of ProPublica from its founding in 2007 until 2012, an ...

); and Eric Straus (married to Elisabeth Natalie Sand). Ellen died in 1995. In 1998, he remarried to Marcia Lewis, the mother of

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercu ...

. Straus died on August 6, 2012, in Manhattan, at 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, R. Peter 1923 births 2012 deaths People from Manhattan Yale University alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II New York (state) Democrats American people of German-Jewish descent American newspaper executives American radio executives Sulzberger family Straus family Riverdale Country School alumni Loomis Chaffee School alumni