Nicholas von Hoffman

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Nicholas von Hoffman (born October 16, 1929 in New York City , New York - † February 1, 2018 in Rockport , Knox County , Maine ) was an American journalist , author and columnist . After working for The Washington Post , he wrote for the New York Observer.

Life

Nicholas von Hoffman was the son of the German-Russian general Carl von Hoffman . Von Hoffman was a worker in the so-called " Union Stock Yards " in Chicago . He later worked as a political activist for Saul Alinsky . He then wrote for the Chicago Daily News before Ben Bradlee , editor of the Washington Post, could poach him.

He gained greater fame as a commentator on the US news program 60 Minutes , for which he appeared in the "Point-Counterpoint" section. However, he was dismissed in 1974 by Don Hewitt , the show's editor-in-chief, after he had described then-President Richard Nixon as " a dead mouse on America's kitchen floor ".

In her memoir , Katharine Graham , editor of the Washington Post, wrote:

“My life would have been a lot simpler had Nicholas von Hoffman not appeared in the paper. [...] I firmly believed that he belonged at the Post. "

“My life would have been a lot easier if Nicholas von Hoffman's columns hadn't appeared in the paper. [...] I was sure that he definitely belonged to the (Washington) Post. "

- Stability: Donald Graham's Washington Post

Works

Hoffman has written more than a dozen books. The most well-known are:

  • Capitalist Fools: Tales of American Business, from Carnegie to Forbes to the Milken Gang , 1992
  • Citizen Cohn , a biography about Roy Cohn made into a film by HBO , 1988
  • Hoax: Why Americans Are Suckered by White House Lies , 2004

Hoffman wrote the libretto for the opera “Nicholas and Alexandra” by the composer Deborah Drattell , which was performed at the Los Angeles Opera in the 2003/04 season under the direction of Plácido Domingo .

controversy

Shortly after taking Kabul , he predicted that US troops would be immediately defeated by the Taliban . In fact, the Taliban withdrew and gave up their stronghold of Kandahar .

In response to Hoffman's prediction, British columnist and blogger Andrew Sullivan created a parody award he called the Von Hoffman Award . It is awarded by him for “ outstandingly bad ” forecasts.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Nicholas von Hoffman, Provocative Journalist and Author, Dies at 88
  2. ↑ Nixon's Still the One ( Memento of the original of July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The New York Observer, June 7, 2007  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.observer.com
  3. ↑ shilohbucher.com ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 15, 2001 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.shilohbucher.com
  4. ↑ From Hoffman Award Nominee
personal data
SURNAME Hoffman, Nicholas of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist and book author
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 2018
Place of death Rockport , Maine