Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840 – December 22, 1921) was a
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
who founded the
Louisville Courier-JournalThe Courier-Journal, nicknamed the "C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.The Courier-Journal also owns...
.
He also served part of one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat.
Born in
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, founded on July 16, 1790...
, the son of
Harvey Magee WattersonHarvey Magee Watterson was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician. He was what his only child Henry later described as an "undoubting Democrat of the schools of Jefferson and Jackson", active in Tennessee politics at both the state and federal level.-Biography:He was born in Bedford...
, a journalist and Congressman, Watterson became a newspaper reporter early in his life. He fought for the
Confederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a separatist political entity existing between 1861 to 1865, established by eleven southern slave states of the United States of America, each of which had previously declared their secession from the United States...
under General
Nathan B. ForrestNathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...
during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, and edited a pro-Confederate newspaper, the
Chattanooga Rebel.
After the war, Watterson edited newspapers in several states before settling down in
Louisville, KentuckyLouisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...
to edit the
Louisville Journal.
Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840 – December 22, 1921) was a
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
who founded the
Louisville Courier-JournalThe Courier-Journal, nicknamed the "C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.The Courier-Journal also owns...
.
He also served part of one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat.
Born in
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, founded on July 16, 1790...
, the son of
Harvey Magee WattersonHarvey Magee Watterson was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician. He was what his only child Henry later described as an "undoubting Democrat of the schools of Jefferson and Jackson", active in Tennessee politics at both the state and federal level.-Biography:He was born in Bedford...
, a journalist and Congressman, Watterson became a newspaper reporter early in his life. He fought for the
Confederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a separatist political entity existing between 1861 to 1865, established by eleven southern slave states of the United States of America, each of which had previously declared their secession from the United States...
under General
Nathan B. ForrestNathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War...
during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, and edited a pro-Confederate newspaper, the
Chattanooga Rebel.
After the war, Watterson edited newspapers in several states before settling down in
Louisville, KentuckyLouisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...
to edit the
Louisville Journal. When that paper merged with the
Louisville Courier in 1868, the
Courier-Journal was formed. This paper soon gained national attention for its excellent reporting. He was a leader of the Liberal Republican movement in 1872. By 1876 he was a Democrat; his proposal for hundreds of thousands of Democrats to march on Washington to force the election of Tilden angered President
Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
, who noted that nobody threatened Grant. Watterson was elected to fill the rest of
Edward Y. ParsonsEdward Young Parsons was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.Born in Middletown, Kentucky, Parsons attended the public schools at Louisville, Kentucky until age 12. He studied one year in the St. Louis High School. He returned to Louisville and graduated from the municipal university in 1861,...
' term in the house when Parsons died in office.
Watterson was called "the last of the great personal journalists", writing colorful and controversial
editorialEditorials are featured in many newspapers and magazines, usually written by the senior editorial staff or publisher of the publication. Additionally, most print publications feature an editorial, or letter from the editor, sometimes followed by a Letters to the Editor section...
s on many topics. He won the
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City....
in 1918 for two editorials supporting U.S. entry into
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, and he remained the editor until 1919, retiring after conflicts with
Robert Worth BinghamRobert Worth Bingham was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and American Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He attended the University of North Carolina and University of Virginia but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a law degree from the University of...
, who purchased the paper in 1918.
During his tenure as editor, Watterson was a Democratic representative in Congress from 1876 to 1877, and was a five-time delegate to the National Democratic Convention, where, in 1892, he received a smattering of votes for the vice presidential nomination. He became widely known as a lecturer and orator. His publications include
History of the Spanish-American War (1899) and
The Compromises of Life (1902).
The Interstate 264 beltway around Louisville was named after him.
External links