Charles Peters
Encyclopedia
Charles Peters is an American
journalist
, editor
, and author
.
Founder and former editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly
magazine, he is currently the president of Understanding Government. Peters was born in Charleston
, West Virginia
in 1926. He attended local public schools, graduating from Charleston High School
in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944. After his discharge in 1946, he attended Columbia College in New York, receiving his B.A. in 1949 and his MA from the university in 1951. He attended the University of Virginia Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1957. From 1957-1961, he practiced law in West Virginia, and managed John F. Kennedy
's 1960 presidential campaign in Kanawha County. In 1961 and 1962 he served in West Virginia House of Delegates
. He was director of evaluation for the Peace Corps
from 1962-1968. In 1969 he founded Monthly and was editor-in-chief until 2001. In 1999 he founded the non-profit organization Understanding Government, of which he is currently president. Peters is the author of four books including, most recently, a biography of Lyndon Johnson. He writes the regular Monthly column “Tilting at Windmills.”
, West Virginia
. He attended public schools, graduating from Charleston High School
in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944, serving at Ohio University
, Camp Atterbury
in Indiana
, and Fort McClellan
, Alabama
, where an injury in a training accident resulted in his being in Army hospitals for several months, and his discharge from the Army in 1946.
In 1946, he went to New York
to enter Columbia College. After receiving his BA in 1949, he entered graduate school at Columbia and received his MA in 1951. In 1952-53, he worked for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York. During the summers from 1946 through 1954, he performed various backstage roles at summer theaters in Boylston
, Massachusetts
, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
, and Newport
, Rhode Island
, and had his own repertory
company in Charleston, West Virginia.
Peters entered the University of Virginia School of Law
in 1954. He was named to the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review
in 1955, serving until his graduation in 1957.
, and returned to Charleston to practice law with his father’s firm, Peters, Merricks, Leslie and Mohler. His practice included libel, criminal defense, corporate and labor law, as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in civil trials.
In 1959, he was named chief staff officer of the Judiciary Committee of the West Virginia House of Delegates
, and in 1960, he was elected a member of the House. In 1960, he also managed the primary and general election campaigns in Kanawha County for presidential candidate John F. Kennedy
. After serving in the 1961 session of the legislature, he went to Washington, D.C.
to help start the Peace Corps
. After returning to serve in the 1962 legislative session, he was named the Peace Corps’ director of evaluation, a position that required him to report on the performance of the agency’s programs overseas and on how they could be improved.
.
The magazine’s prospectus said its purpose would be “to look at Washington the way an anthropologist looks at a South Sea island,” helping the reader understand our system of politics and government, where it breaks down, why it breaks down, and what can be done to make it work.” The first issue was published in January 1969. Its articles included “The White House Staff vs. the Cabinet,” “What Happens to a Senator’s Day,” and “The Data Game.” Among the authors were such journalists as David Broder, Murray Kempton
, Russell Baker
, and Calvin Trillin
, as well as people who had worked in government, such as Peters, former White House aide Bill Moyers
, and former U.S. Senate aide James Boyd. A similar mix of authors would continue to write for the magazine, but beginning in 1970, the magazine became largely the product of young unknowns, who would typically serve as writer-editors for two years. Among them were Taylor Branch
, Suzannah Lessard
, James Fallows
, Walter Shapiro, Michael Kinsley
, David Ignatius
, Nicholas Lemann
, Gregg Easterbrook
, Mickey Kaus
, Joe Nocera, Jonathan Alter
, Timothy Noah
, Steve Waldman, Matt Cooper, Jason DeParle, James Bennet
, Katherine Boo
, and Jon Meacham
.
Peters served as editor of The Washington Monthly until he retired in 2001. Russell Baker
, in an interview in the alumni magazine Columbia College Today, called Peters “a great editor in an age that’s not producing great editors.” Peters continues to write a regular column, “Tilting at Windmills,” for the magazine.
, the Federal Aviation Administration
, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission
.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing 'We Want Willkie!' Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World
How Washington Really Works
Tilting At Windmills: An Autobiography
Co-editor:
Blowing the Whistle (with Taylor Branch)
The System (with James Fallows)
The Culture of Bureaucracy (with Michael Nelson)
A New Road for America: the Neoliberal Movement (with Phil Keisling)
Inside the System (with Timothy Adams – first ed.; with John Rothchild – second ed.; with James Fallows – third ed.; with Nicholas Lemann – fourth ed.; with Jonathan Alter – fifth ed.)
at Stanford University
in 1994. In 2001, he was elected to the Hall of Fame of the American Society of Magazine Editors
and the Hall of Fame of the D.C. Society of Professional Journalists. In 2002 he was the Times Mirror David M. Laventhol Visiting Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. In 2003 he received the Carr Van Anda
Award from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University. He was a Public Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
, September 2002 through April 2003.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Founder and former editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
magazine, he is currently the president of Understanding Government. Peters was born in Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
in 1926. He attended local public schools, graduating from Charleston High School
Charleston High School
Charleston High School is a former high school, which was closed in 1989, in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Its final location is where CAMC General Hospital is now located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. In 1989, Charleston High School and Stonewall Jackson High School consolidated to form...
in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944. After his discharge in 1946, he attended Columbia College in New York, receiving his B.A. in 1949 and his MA from the university in 1951. He attended the University of Virginia Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1957. From 1957-1961, he practiced law in West Virginia, and managed John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's 1960 presidential campaign in Kanawha County. In 1961 and 1962 he served in West Virginia House of Delegates
West Virginia House of Delegates
The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates.-Historical:-Current:-District organization:...
. He was director of evaluation for the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
from 1962-1968. In 1969 he founded Monthly and was editor-in-chief until 2001. In 1999 he founded the non-profit organization Understanding Government, of which he is currently president. Peters is the author of four books including, most recently, a biography of Lyndon Johnson. He writes the regular Monthly column “Tilting at Windmills.”
Early life and education
Charles Peters was born in 1926 in CharlestonCharleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. He attended public schools, graduating from Charleston High School
Charleston High School
Charleston High School is a former high school, which was closed in 1989, in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Its final location is where CAMC General Hospital is now located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. In 1989, Charleston High School and Stonewall Jackson High School consolidated to form...
in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944, serving at Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
, Camp Atterbury
Camp Atterbury
Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, Indiana, USA, is a training base of the Indiana National Guard. It was planned just months before the U.S. entry into World War II. Originally surveyed and researched by the Hurd Company, the present site was recommended to Congress in 1941. Construction commenced...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and Fort McClellan
Fort McClellan
Fort McClellan, originally Camp McClellan, was a United States Army post located adjacent to the city of Anniston, Alabama. During World War II, it was one of the largest U.S. Army installations, training an estimated half-million troops...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, where an injury in a training accident resulted in his being in Army hospitals for several months, and his discharge from the Army in 1946.
In 1946, he went to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to enter Columbia College. After receiving his BA in 1949, he entered graduate school at Columbia and received his MA in 1951. In 1952-53, he worked for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York. During the summers from 1946 through 1954, he performed various backstage roles at summer theaters in Boylston
Boylston, Massachusetts
Boylston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,355 at the 2010 census.-History:Boylston was first settled by Europeans around 1706 in the north part of the present-day town, most notably by the Sawyer family...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and had his own repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
company in Charleston, West Virginia.
Peters entered the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...
in 1954. He was named to the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review
Virginia Law Review
The Virginia Law Review is a law review edited and published entirely by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was founded on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year...
in 1955, serving until his graduation in 1957.
Early career, political activity, and involvement in the Peace Corps
After receiving his law degree, he married Elizabeth Hubbell, a former ballet dancer who had attended Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, and returned to Charleston to practice law with his father’s firm, Peters, Merricks, Leslie and Mohler. His practice included libel, criminal defense, corporate and labor law, as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in civil trials.
In 1959, he was named chief staff officer of the Judiciary Committee of the West Virginia House of Delegates
West Virginia House of Delegates
The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates.-Historical:-Current:-District organization:...
, and in 1960, he was elected a member of the House. In 1960, he also managed the primary and general election campaigns in Kanawha County for presidential candidate John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. After serving in the 1961 session of the legislature, he went to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to help start the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. After returning to serve in the 1962 legislative session, he was named the Peace Corps’ director of evaluation, a position that required him to report on the performance of the agency’s programs overseas and on how they could be improved.
Founding of Washington Monthly
In 1968, Peters resigned from the Peace Corps to begin planning a new magazine, to be called The Washington MonthlyThe Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
.
The magazine’s prospectus said its purpose would be “to look at Washington the way an anthropologist looks at a South Sea island,” helping the reader understand our system of politics and government, where it breaks down, why it breaks down, and what can be done to make it work.” The first issue was published in January 1969. Its articles included “The White House Staff vs. the Cabinet,” “What Happens to a Senator’s Day,” and “The Data Game.” Among the authors were such journalists as David Broder, Murray Kempton
Murray Kempton
James Murray Kempton was an influential, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist.-Biography:Kempton was born in Baltimore on December 16, 1917. His mother was Sally Ambler and his father was James Branson Kempton, a stock broker...
, Russell Baker
Russell Baker
Russell Wayne Baker is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as for his autobiography, Growing Up.-His career:...
, and Calvin Trillin
Calvin Trillin
Calvin Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist.-Biography:Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of Scroll and Key before graduating...
, as well as people who had worked in government, such as Peters, former White House aide Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
, and former U.S. Senate aide James Boyd. A similar mix of authors would continue to write for the magazine, but beginning in 1970, the magazine became largely the product of young unknowns, who would typically serve as writer-editors for two years. Among them were Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch is an American author and historian best known for his award-winning trilogy of books chronicling the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and some of the history of the American civil rights movement...
, Suzannah Lessard
Suzannah Lessard
Suzannah Lessard is an American writer of literary non-fiction. She has written memoir, reportorial pieces, essays and opinion.-Life:She has taught at Columbia School of the Arts, Wesleyan University, The New School, George Mason University, George Washington University, and Goucher College MFA...
, James Fallows
James Fallows
James Fallows is an American print and radio journalist. He has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect, among others. He is a...
, Walter Shapiro, Michael Kinsley
Michael Kinsley
Michael Kinsley is an American political journalist, commentator, television host, and pundit. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on Crossfire...
, David Ignatius
David Ignatius
David R. Ignatius , is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post. He also co-hosts PostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues at Washingtonpost.com, with Newsweek 's Fareed Zakaria...
, Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is dean and Henry R. Luce professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.Lemann is from New Orleans and he graduated from Harvard University in 1976, but has never attended a school of journalism. He is a journalist, editor, and author...
, Gregg Easterbrook
Gregg Easterbrook
Gregg Edmund Easterbrook is an American writer, lecturer, and a senior editor of The New Republic. His articles have appeared in Slate, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Wired, and Beliefnet. In addition, he was a fellow at the...
, Mickey Kaus
Mickey Kaus
Robert Michael Kaus , better known as Mickey Kaus, is an American journalist, pundit, and author best known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on Slate until 2010. Kaus is the author of The End of Equality and had previously worked as a journalist for Newsweek, The...
, Joe Nocera, Jonathan Alter
Jonathan Alter
Jonathan Alter is an American journalist and author who was a columnist and senior editor for Newsweek magazine from 1983 until 2011. He is currently a lead columnist for Bloomberg View, a new commentary website. He is also a contributing correspondent to NBC News, where since 1996 he has appeared...
, Timothy Noah
Timothy Noah
Timothy Robert Noah is an American journalist. He is a senior editor of The New Republic, where he writes the TRB column and a political blog...
, Steve Waldman, Matt Cooper, Jason DeParle, James Bennet
James Bennet
James Douglas Bennet is an American journalist. Since 2006, he has been the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.-Background and family:...
, Katherine Boo
Katherine Boo
Katherine Boo is an award-winning journalist known primarily for writing about America's poor and disadvantaged.-Life:A native of Washington, D.C., Boo graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College and began her career in journalism with editorial positions at Washington's City Paper and then the...
, and Jon Meacham
Jon Meacham
Jon Meacham is executive editor and executive vice president at Random House. A former editor of Newsweek and a Pulitzer Prize winning bestselling author and a commentator on politics, history, and religious faith in America, he is a contributing editor to Time magazine and editor-at-large of WNET...
.
Peters served as editor of The Washington Monthly until he retired in 2001. Russell Baker
Russell Baker
Russell Wayne Baker is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as for his autobiography, Growing Up.-His career:...
, in an interview in the alumni magazine Columbia College Today, called Peters “a great editor in an age that’s not producing great editors.” Peters continues to write a regular column, “Tilting at Windmills,” for the magazine.
Founding of Understanding Government
In 1998, he founded a non-profit organization called Understanding Government, with the purpose of improving press coverage of the executive branch of government. Understanding Government sponsored the first-ever Prize for Preventive Journalism, given in 2008 to journalist Michael Grunwald, and has published reports on federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created in 1972 through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect "against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products." The CPSC is an independent agency that does...
.
Books
Author:Lyndon B. Johnson
Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing 'We Want Willkie!' Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World
How Washington Really Works
Tilting At Windmills: An Autobiography
Co-editor:
Blowing the Whistle (with Taylor Branch)
The System (with James Fallows)
The Culture of Bureaucracy (with Michael Nelson)
A New Road for America: the Neoliberal Movement (with Phil Keisling)
Inside the System (with Timothy Adams – first ed.; with John Rothchild – second ed.; with James Fallows – third ed.; with Nicholas Lemann – fourth ed.; with Jonathan Alter – fifth ed.)
Articles
Awards
Peters was named the recipient of the first Richard M. Clurman Award in 1996 for his work mentoring young journalists. He also received the Columbia Journalism Award in 1978 and was a Poynter Fellow at Yale University in 1980, the Delacorte Lecturer at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 1990 and 2003 and visiting fellow at the Hoover InstitutionHoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1994. In 2001, he was elected to the Hall of Fame of the American Society of Magazine Editors
American Society of Magazine Editors
The American Society of Magazine Editors is an industry trade group for editors of magazines published in the United States. The group advocates on behalf of member organizations with respect to First Amendment issues, and serves as a networking hub for editors and other industry employees...
and the Hall of Fame of the D.C. Society of Professional Journalists. In 2002 he was the Times Mirror David M. Laventhol Visiting Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. In 2003 he received the Carr Van Anda
Carr Van Anda
Carr Vattel Van Anda was the managing editor of The New York Times under Adolph Ochs, from 1904 to 1932....
Award from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University. He was a Public Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
, September 2002 through April 2003.