Sulzberger, Arthur Hays
SULZBERGER, ARTHUR HAYS
SULZBERGER, ARTHUR HAYS (1891–1968), U.S. publisher of The New York Times. Sulzberger, who was born in New York, married Iphigene B. Ochs, the only child of Adolph S. *Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, in 1917. He joined the staff of the paper in 1919, after his release from service in World War i as a lieutenant in the field artillery. Given wide-ranging training and responsibilities in all areas of the paper's operation, he was named publisher of the paper and president of The New York Times Co. when Ochs died in 1935. Under his direction, the paper was successful not only in perpetuating Ochs's high traditions of comprehensive, responsible, and impersonal journalism, but also in extending the scope and influence of its coverage through increased attention to interpretative reporting, news of consequence in political and economic affairs, and the world of culture and the arts. As the newspaper's top executive, he also played a dominant role in its affiliated operations, including: the Chattanooga Times, the paper published by Ochs at the time he went to New York; the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Co. Ltd., of Canada, the largest newsprint producer in the world; and Interstate Broadcasting Co.
As his father-in-law had done, he too trained a son-in-law to succeed him, Orvil Eugene Dryfoos (1912–1963), who had married his daughter Marian. When Sulzberger went into semi-retirement in 1961, he continued as chairman of the board but turned over day-to-day direction of the paper to Dryfoos as publisher. When Dryfoos died suddenly (in 1963), he was succeeded by arthur ochs sulzberger (1926– ), son of Arthur Hays Sulzberger. Sulzberger had joined The New York Times staff after service with the U.S. Marines. He devoted several years to gaining extensive experience in both its editorial and business operations. After serving as a cub reporter on The New York Times, he worked for a year as a reporter for The Milwaukee Journal, and then returned to The New York Times for assignments on the foreign news desk, as a correspondent in London, Paris, and Rome. He returned to New York in 1955 as assistant to the publisher. He was named assistant treasurer in 1958, and was president and publisher from 1963 until 1992 and served as chairman until 1997. In 1972 he won the Pulitzer Prize for publishing The Pentagon Papers. In 2005 he received the Katharine Graham Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newspaper Association of America. His son arthur ochs sulzberger jr. (1951– ) became the publisher of The New York Times in 1992 and chairman in 1997. Sulzberger's first cousin cyrus leo sulzberger (1912–1993) was a prominent New York Times foreign affairs columnist. He wrote a large number of books, among them Seven Continents and Forty Years: A Concentration of Memoirs (with A. Malraux, 1977).
bibliography:
Mandell, in: J. Fraenkel (ed.), The Jews of Austria. add. bibliography: S. Tifft and A. Jones, The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family behind The New York Times (1999).
[Irving Rosenthal /
Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]