William Safire

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William L. Safire on NBC's Meet The Press with Tim Russert.
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William L. Safire on NBC's Meet The Press with Tim Russert.

William L. Safire (born December 17, 1929) is an American author, semi-retired columnist, and former journalist and presidential speechwriter.

He is perhaps best known as a long-time syndicated political columnist for The New York Times and a regular contributor to "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine, a column on popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics.

Contents

[edit] Biography

His family name was Safir (William added the "e"). Safire is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, an elite public school in New York City. He attended Syracuse University, but dropped out after having attended only two years. Safire would later deliver a commencement address there and became a trustee of the university.

Before he became a journalist, Safire was a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew; he coined Agnew's phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism." From 1955 to 1960, he was a public relations executive. Previously he had been a radio and television producer and a United States Army correspondent.

Safire joined the New York Times as a political columnist in 1973. In 1978, he won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary on Bert Lance's alleged budgetary irregularities. However, subsequent investigations by Congress could find no wrongdoing.

Upon announcing the retirement of Safire's political column in 2005, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of The New York Times, stated:

The New York Times without Bill Safire is all but unimaginable, Bill's provocative and insightful commentary has held our readers captive since he first graced our Op-Ed Page in 1973. Reaching for his column became a critical and enjoyable part of the day for our readers across the country and around the world. Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point, his writing is delightful, informed and engaging."

Since 1995 Safire has served as a member of the Pulitzer Board. After ending his op-ed column, Safire became the full-time chief executive of the Dana Foundation where he has been chairman since 2000.

In 2006, Safire was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[edit] Politics

Safire describes himself as a libertarian conservative. A Washington Post story on the ending of his op-ed column quotes him on the subject:

I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian. [After the 9/11 attacks,] I was the first to really go after George W. on his treatment of prisoners.

After voting for Bill Clinton in 1992, Safire became one of the leading critics of Clinton's administration. Hillary Clinton in particular was often the target of his ire. He caused a mild tempest when he called her a "congenital liar;" Hillary responded that she didn't feel offended for herself, but for her mother's sake. According to the president's press secretary at the time, Mike McCurry, "the president, if he were not the president, would have delivered a more forceful response to that on the bridge of Mr. Safire's nose."

Many readers who followed his columns in the New York Times felt dismayed when he consistently brought up the point that Iraqi intelligence agents met with the 9/11 attackers in Prague, Czech Republic[1]. Some people feel this theory has been debunked by CIA and other credible intelligence agencies. Still Mr. Safire kept insisting that this theory was true and used this theory to make a case for war against Iraq.

He is a staunch defender of Israel and for this reason received the Guardian of Zion Award of Bar-Ilan University in 2005.

Recieved the Medal of Freedom in 2006 from George W. Bush.

[edit] Bibliography

The following is a partial list of his writings:

  • Language
    • The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular Language Column in the New York Times Magazine (2004) ISBN 0-7432-4244-0
    • No Uncertain Terms: More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine (2003) ISBN 0-7432-4243-2
  • Novels
  • Selections
  • Socio-political works
    • Safire's Political Dictionary, 3rd edition, Random House, NY, l968,l972,l978.
    • The Relations Explosion
    • Plunging into Politics
    • Before the Fall

[edit] Reference

  • Larry Berman and Bruce W. Jentleson, "Bush and the Post-Cold War World" New Challenges for American Leadership" in Colin Campbell, S.J., and Bert A. Rockman, ed.s The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals. 1991. Chatham House. ISBN 0-934540-90-X.

[edit] External links

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