- Roy A. Roberts
Roy Allison Roberts (1887 - February 23, 1967) was a
managing editor ,president ,editor andgeneral manager of "The Kansas City Star " who guided the paper during its influential period during the Presidencies ofHarry S. Truman andDwight D. Eisenhower .Roberts was born in
Muscotah, Kansas and grew up inLawrence, Kansas where he as paperboy for the "Star "and studiedjournalism at theUniversity of Kansas . One semester short of graduation he dropped out to work for the "Lawrence Journal-World " to support his widowed mother and five siblings.He joined the "Star" in 1909 as a sports reporter and switched to covering the
Missouri Legislature in 1910. In 1915 "Star" founderWilliam Rockhill Nelson assigned him to be theWashington correspondent.After Nelson's death, he was among the employees who bought the "Star" and he came managing editor in 1928 and member of the board of directors.
Roberts was to be closely identified with shaping Kansas Republican politics and he championed Kansas
Governor Alf Landon in his unsuccessful 1936 race againstFranklin Roosevelt .During Roberts' tenure,
Kansas City rose to prominence thanks to the rise and fall of Big Boss Democratic machine ofThomas Pendergast which was to see the rise ofHarry Truman . Roberts and Truman did not always see eye to eye during this period.Truman in the closing weeks of his administration was to bring actions against the "Star" that was to force it to divest itself of
WDAF-TV .In 1953 Roberts married Florence G. Ross, the widow of Truman's Press Secretary
Charles G. Ross .Roberts championed Kansan Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 race.
In 1963 he stepped down as managing editor but became
chairman of the board and he officially retired in 1965. The paper won fivePulitzer Prize s during his watch.He was profiled in a "Time" cover article on April 12, 1948.
External links
* [http://www.kcpl.lib.mo.us/localhistory/media.cfm?print=go&mediaID=34992 Kansas City Public Library biography]
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