| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front |
| WSJ Editor Robert Bartley dies |
| 2003-12-10 |
| Robert L. Bartley, who made The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page one of the nation’s most influential conservative voices during his 30 years as its editor, has died of cancer at age 66. Bartley’s editorials, which won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1980, ranged from criticism of arms-control treaties to doubts about President Bill Clinton’s character. His greatest impact came in turning the Journal’s editorial page, as he put it, into "the mouthpiece of supply-side economics," the tax-cutting ideology that has influenced Republican fiscal policy from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush. Earlier this month, President Bush awarded Bartley the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. "A champion of free markets, individual liberty and the values necessary for a free society, his writings have been characterized by profound insights, passionate convictions and an unyielding optimism in America," the citation read. Over his career, he also won a Gerald Loeb Award and a Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club of America. He was the author of a book on Reagan administration economic policy, "The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again," published in 1992. He was awarded honorary degrees from Macalester College, Babson College and Adelphi University. Bartley is survived by his wife, Edith, who was his high school girlfriend--his only one, according to his brother Dale--and by their three daughters. While Bartley’s main interest was in economics and economic policy, he also wrote eloquently in support of the War on Terror, and originated the Journal’s "Best of the Web." Here’s a couple of samples of his writings on the WoT: "Christmas in Terror’s Wake" (12/24/01) "What We Learned" (9/9/02) Requiescat in pace. |
| Posted by:Mike |