Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

William Safire, Nixon Speechwriter and Times Columnist, Is Dead at 79
New York Times ^ | 9/28/2009 | ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Posted on 09/27/2009 11:19:38 AM PDT by fours

Edited on 09/27/2009 12:39:50 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Martin Tolchin, a friend of the family.

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: there was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”

He was a college dropout and proud of it, a public relations go-getter who set up the famous Nixon-Khrushchev “kitchen debate” in Moscow, and a White House wordsmith in the tumultuous era of war in Vietnam, Nixon’s visit to China and the gathering storm of the Watergate scandal that drove the president from office.

Then, from 1973 to 2005, Mr. Safire wrote his twice weekly “Essay” for the Op-Ed Page of The Times, a forceful conservative voice in the liberal chorus. Unlike most Washington columnists who offer judgments with Olympian detachment, Mr. Safire was a pugnacious contrarian who did much of his own reporting, called people liars in print and laced his opinions with outrageous wordplay.

Critics initially dismissed him as an apologist for the disgraced Nixon coterie. But he won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and for 32 years tenaciously attacked and defended foreign and domestic policies, and the foibles, of seven administrations. Along the way, he incurred enmity and admiration, and made a lot of powerful people squirm.

Excerpt


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: journalist; nixon; obituary; safire; warecorrespondent; williamsafire
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last
To: fours

RIP. I used to enjoy his “On Language” columns in the NYT magazine.


21 posted on 09/27/2009 11:55:04 AM PDT by P.O.E.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: P.O.E.

I’ll second that.

His writing was precise and lucid. His politics, not so much. It’ll be a long time before there is another like him.


22 posted on 09/27/2009 12:05:57 PM PDT by Daffynition (What's all this about hellfire and Dalmatians?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: JHBowden

And usually not the ones we’d care to see go.


23 posted on 09/27/2009 12:09:08 PM PDT by Joe Boucher (google; operation garden spot and REX84 (FUBO))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: fours

R.I.P. Bill.

You’re gonna miss the coming festivities.


24 posted on 09/27/2009 12:11:16 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (THE 2010 ELECTIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFETIMES! BE THERE!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fours

bookmark


25 posted on 09/27/2009 12:16:02 PM PDT by GOP Poet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Juana la Loca

Very sad. May he rest in peace.


26 posted on 09/27/2009 12:22:56 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (The number one threat to American Security: Barak Obama - Jimmy Carter Part II.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: fours

RIP Mr. Safire. See you on the other side.


27 posted on 09/27/2009 12:32:44 PM PDT by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fours


Rest in peace Mr. Safire.
28 posted on 09/27/2009 12:33:10 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Borges

ping


29 posted on 09/27/2009 12:33:40 PM PDT by EveningStar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fours

RIP Mr. Safire.
I love your language columns and books.


30 posted on 09/27/2009 12:35:07 PM PDT by Lorianne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fours

RIP, Mr. Safire. I have his book “I Stand Corrected,” a treasure on usage, words and spelling, making me the grammar nazi that I am today :-)


31 posted on 09/27/2009 12:35:27 PM PDT by rabidralph (http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/ http://www.sarahpac.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: doug from upland

Thanks for posting that, DFU- I actually remember reading it at the time and cheering for Safire.

He was from a different generation- and I’m sure he’ll be dumped on here by some for being a rino- but he was very effective at his peak and did some superb work. Further- he was able to write clear sentences that developed his theme while keeping the reader interested enough to keep reading. Reading a piece by Safire was always educational.

We don’t see that much anymore.


32 posted on 09/27/2009 12:38:50 PM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Liberty Valance


President George W. Bush, right, presents the medal of Freedom to writer William Safire, second from right, during a ceremony for the 2006 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Other recipients on stage include, from left to right, Ruth Johnson Colvin, Norman C. Francis, Paul Johnson, Riley "B.B." King, Joshua Lederberg, David McCullough and Norman Y. Mineta.
33 posted on 09/27/2009 12:41:15 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: fours

He will be missed. Is there an epidemic of Pancreatic Cancer?


34 posted on 09/27/2009 12:53:57 PM PDT by AUsome Joy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AUsome Joy; silent_jonny; LUV W

May he rest in God's eternal peace.

Years later, Mr. Safire called Hillary Clinton a “congenital liar” in print. Mrs. Clinton said she was offended only for her mother’s sake. But a White House aide said that Bill Clinton, “if he were not president, would have delivered a more forceful response on the bridge of Mr. Safire’s nose.”

Mr. Safire was delighted, especially with the proper use of the conditional.

35 posted on 09/27/2009 12:57:47 PM PDT by STARWISE (The Art & Science Institute of Chicago Politics NE Div: now open at the White House)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: doug from upland
Considering the times, this was a thundering indictment--on the order of Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution.

And no doubt was intended as such.

The pen, the sword--advantage pen.

Bravo, William Safire.

36 posted on 09/27/2009 1:00:44 PM PDT by PhilDragoo (Hussein: Islamo-Commie from Kenya)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: library user

there are many deaths in this world on each and every day

may white light go up into his widow and fill her till she screams with godly pleasure

jesus be with his family on this most horrible day, my dog died recently so i know how his family must feel

pray for sarah and our troops


37 posted on 09/27/2009 1:04:23 PM PDT by skipper18
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: fours

Bob Novak gone, now Safire.

RIP, good man. You will be missed.

May God bless his family and bring them comfort.


38 posted on 09/27/2009 1:17:50 PM PDT by bustinchops (Teddy ("The Hiccup") Kennedy - the original water-boarder)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: doug from upland
That's journalism! Thank you for posting one of Mr. Safire’s columns.
39 posted on 09/27/2009 1:18:08 PM PDT by elizabethgrace
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: fours

Bill Safire gave liberals Hell (and sometimes conservatives too, when appropriate), and that makes him a good guy in my book.

Rest in Peace Sir.


40 posted on 09/27/2009 1:23:13 PM PDT by mkjessup (The Shah doesn't look so bad now, eh? But NOOOO, Jimmah said the Ayatollah was a "godly man".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson