Jonathan Daniels | |
|---|---|
 Daniels in 1921 | |
| 4thWhite House Press Secretary | |
| In office March 29, 1945 – May 15, 1945 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Stephen Early |
| Succeeded by | Charlie Ross |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Worth Daniels (1902-04-26)April 26, 1902 Raleigh,North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1981(1981-11-06) (aged 79) Hilton Head,South Carolina, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Bridgers Lucy Billing Cathcart |
| Children | 4 daughters |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill(BA,MA) Columbia University |
Jonathan Worth Daniels (April 26, 1902 – November 6, 1981) was an American writer, editor, andWhite House Press Secretary. He was a founding member of thePeabody Awards Board of Jurors, serving from 1940 until 1950.[1] For most of his life, he worked atThe News & Observer, and later foundedThe Island Packet.
Jonathan Worth Daniels was the son ofJosephus Daniels andAddie Worth Bagley Daniels. He attended Centennial School in Raleigh from 1908 to 1913. When his father becameUnited States Secretary of the Navy in 1913, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where he studied at the John Eaton School from 1913 to 1915, andSt. Albans School from 1915 to 1918. Daniels attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and graduated in 1921 with a B.A. He continued at UNC for graduate school, earning an M.A. in English in 1921. As a student in Chapel Hill, he editedThe Daily Tar Heel and participated in theCarolina Playmakers.[2]
Daniels passed the North Carolina bar exam despite failing out ofColumbia University Law School, but never practiced law.[3] In 1930, he was awarded a year-longGuggenheim Fellowship in fiction, which he spent in France.[4] Years later, his daughter Lucy Daniels would also receive a Guggenheim for fiction, in 1957.[5]
After World War II began, Daniels went into government service, first as assistant director of theOffice of Civilian Defense and later as one of six administrative assistants for PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt (who had worked under Josephus Daniels during World War I). In March 1945, less than one month before his death, Roosevelt named Daniels his press secretary, and he continued in the position temporarily under PresidentHarry S. Truman. Daniels' 47-day term serving asWhite House Press Secretary was the shortest of any White House Press Secretary[2][6][7][3] until that ofJerald terHorst, who wasGerald Ford's first Press Secretary for 31 days.
Daniels returned toThe News & Observer in 1947 and became its editor in 1948, upon the death of his father.[2]
In 1966, he revealed the affair between Roosevelt andLucy Mercer Rutherfurd in his bookThe Time Between the Wars.[8] He died in 1981.
Jonathan Daniels, who succeeded Stephen T. Early as the man who handles presidential press relations, took the oath of office Thursday.
Media related toJonathan W. Daniels at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | White House Press Secretary 1945 | Succeeded by |
