The chief : the life of William Randolph Hearst
The definitive and "utterly absorbing" biography of America's first news media baron based on newly released private and business documents (Vanity Fair).William Randolph Hearst, known to his staff as the Chief, was a brilliant business strategist and a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including twenty-eight newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and thirteen magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power.The son of a gold miner, Hearst underwent a public metamorphosis from Harvard dropout to political kingmaker; from outspoken populist to opponent of the New Deal; and from citizen to congressman. In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of the man famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane. With unprecedented access to Hearst's personal and business papers, Nasaw details Heart's relationship with his wife Millicent and his romance with Marion Davies; his interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt; and his acquaintance with movie giants such as Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Irving Thalberg. An "absorbing, sympathetic portrait of an American original," The Chief sheds light on the private life of a very public man (Chicago Tribune). -- Amazon.com
Biography
xv, 687 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
9780395827598, 9780618154463, 0395827590, 0618154469
43287761
Great expectations
Proprietor and editor
Publisher, politician, candidate, and congressman
Of war and peace
Master builder
The king and queen of Hollywood
The depression
New deals and raw deals
The fall
Describes the life of William Randolph Hearst, head of an American publishing empire by the 1930s, strong political presence, and subject of the film "Citizen Kane."