Voting Station

Tom Wicker

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Commentator

The Resume

    (June 18, 1926-November 25, 2011)
    Born in Hamlet, North Carolina
    Politcal reporter and columnist for the New York Times
    Washington, DC, bureau chief (1964-68)
    Wrote the column 'In The Nation' (1966-91)
    Wrote the books 'Kennedy Without Tears: The Man Beneath the Myth' (1964), 'JFK & LBJ' (1966), 'A Time To Die: The Attica Prison Revolt' (1975), 'One Of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream' (1991), 'Tragic Failure: Racial Integration in America' (1996) and 'Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy' (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    Before becoming a journalist, he wrote pulp fiction under a pen name.
    He said objectivity was the 'biggest weakness' of the press.
    He was criticized for crossing the line from covering events to participating in them.
    He addressed an anti-Vietnam War teach-in at Harvard (1971), telling the students 'We got rid of one president and perhaps we can do it again.'
    He was one of several journalists mentioned in a 60 Minutes report as supporting bussing to integrate public schools while sending their own kids to private schools.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He gained prominence for his coverage of the John F. Kennedy assassination, dictating a 3,000-word story over an airport pay phone based on notes scribbled on the back of a White House itenerary sheet.
    He was one of the mediators chosen to try to negotiate an end to the Attica Prison revolt (1971).
    His outspokenness got him placed on Nixon's enemies list.
    Ironically, his Nixon biography 'One of Us' praised the president's 'underrated and unrecognized' domestic policy achievements.
    Commenting on the often negative reaction to 'One of Us' by fellow reporters, he said 'I think there is a considerable attitude which is that if you can't say anything bad about Richard Nixon, then don't say it.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 84.62% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 72 Votes: 43.06% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 73 Votes: 78.08% Annoying