The Press: The Colonel

As ruler of a paper that historians have called "one of the most powerful journalistic voices of the past hundred years," Colonel Robert Rutherford ("Bertie") McCormick commanded the No. 1 fortress of personal, daily journalism in the U.S. He put the mark of his eccentric, sometimes pugnacious personality into every column of the Tribune. His skillful and intensely opinionated brand of newspapering might often be wrong, but it was never dull. Even those who violently disagreed with what the Trib said in its news and editorial columns candidly admitted that no one said...

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