Robert L. Bartley

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Robert Leroy Bartley (October 12, 1937 - December 10, 2003) was the editor of the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal for more than 30 years. He won a Pulitzer Prize for opinion writing and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.

[edit] Personal

Bartley was the son of a professor of veterinary medicine. He was born in Marshall, Minnesota and grew up in Ames, Iowa.^[1] Bartley received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Iowa State University and a master's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife Edith had three daughters.

[edit] Professional

Bartley started at the Journal in 1962. After working as a staff reporter in the Chicago and Philadelphia bureaus, he became part of the editorial page staff in 1964. In 1972, he became editor of the editorial page, and in 1979 the editor of the Journal. In 1980, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.^[2] In 1982, John Tebbel, professor emeritus of journalism at New York University, called Bartley "the most influential editorial writer of my time."^[3]

In 1983, Bartley was named a vice president of the Dow Jones & Company, the company that owned the Journal.

Bartley was the author of "The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again," published in 1992, a book on the economic policy of the Reagan administration.^[4]

In December 2002, Bartley stepped down as editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. In December 2003, a week before Bartley died of cancer, President George W. Bush announced that Bartley was being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.^[5]