Walter Annenberg

Infobox Officeholder
name = Walter Hubert Annenberg


caption = Walter Annenberg (center) with wife Leonore (left) and President Ronald Reagan, 1981
imagesize = 220px
birth_date = birth date|1908|3|13|mf=y
birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
death_date = death date and age|2002|10|1|1908|3|13
death_place = Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
residence = Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Rancho Mirage, California
nationality = American
occupation = publisher, diplomat, philanthropist
order = United States Ambassador to the
United Kingdom
networth = US$4 billion
term = 1969–1974
president = Richard Nixon
predecessor = David K.E. Bruce
successor = Elliot Richardson
religion = Jewish
spouse = Veronica Dunkelman (1938–1950)
Leonore Rosenstiel Annenberg (1951–2002)
website = [http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/ Annenberg Foundation]

Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American billionaire publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.

Early life

Walter Annenberg was born in to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published "The Daily Racing Form" and purchased "The Philadelphia Inquirer" in 1936. [cite web |url=http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/inquirerhistory.html|title=The History of the Philadelphia Inquirer|accessdate=2007-11-24|last=Wilkinson|first=Gerry|publisher=Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia] The Annenberg family moved to Long Island, New York in 1920,cite web |url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/annenbergwa/annenbergwa.htm|title= Walter Annenberg|accessdate=2007-11-24 |last= Gunzerath|first= David|publisher=The Museum of Broadcast Communications] and Walter attended high school at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, graduating in 1927. He went on to college at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1931. While in college he was a member of Zeta Beta Tau, a Jewish fraternity.

Business life

In 1942, after his father's death, Annenberg took over the family businesses, making successes out of some that had been failing. He bought additional print media as well as radio and television stations, resulting in great success. One of his most prominent successes was the creation of "TV Guide" in 1952, which he started against the advice of his financial advisers. He also created "Seventeen" magazine.

While Annenberg ran his publishing empire as a business, he was not afraid to use it for his own ends. One of his publications, "The Philadelphia Inquirer", was influential in ridding Philadelphia of its largely corrupt city government in 1949. It attacked McCarthyism in the 1950scite news | first=Richard N. | last=Smith | coauthors= | title=From Paperboy to Philanthropist | date=1999-07-25 | publisher=New York Times | url =http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/25/reviews/990725.25smit.html | work =New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-22 | language = ] , and campaigned for the Marshall Plan following World War II. cite book | last=Ogden | first=Christopher | year=1999 | title=Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg | publisher=Little, Brown and Company | location=New York | id=ISBN 0-316-63379-8 ]

In 1966, Annenberg used the pages of "The Inquirer" to cast doubt on the candidacy of Democrat Milton Shapp, for governor of Pennsylvania. Shapp was highly critical of the proposed merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad with the New York Central and was pushing the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission to stop it. Walter Annenberg, who according to his "New York Times" obituary, was the biggest individual stockholder of the Pennsylvania Railroad [cite news
title=New York times obituary - Shapp story
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E3DE1038F931A35753C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3] , wanted to see the merger go through and was frustrated with Shapp's opposition. During a press conference, an "Inquirer" reporter asked Shapp if he had ever been a patient in a mental hospital. Having never been in one, Shapp simply said "no". The next day, a five-column front page "Inquirer" headline read, “Shapp Denies Mental Institution Stay.” Shapp and others [cite news
title=Slate obituary - "So Long you Rotten Bastard"
url=http://www.slate.com/?id=2071870 ] have attributed his loss of the election to Annenberg's newspaper.

Philanthropy and later life

Even while an active businessman, Annenberg had an interest in public service. After Richard M. Nixon was elected President, he appointed Annenberg as ambassador to the Court of St. James's in the United Kingdom. In 1969 Annenberg sold "The Inquirer" and the "Philadelphia Daily News", which he bought in 1957, to Knight Newspapers for US$55 million. After being appointed as ambassador, he became quite popular in Britain, eventually being knighted with the Order of the British Empire.

Annenberg led a lavish lifestyle. His "Sunnylands" winter estate in Rancho Mirage, California (near Palm Springs) hosted gatherings with such people as President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Charles, Prince of Wales. It was Annenberg who introduced President Reagan to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the Reagans often celebrated New Year's Eve with the Annenbergs. Leonore Annenberg was named by President Ronald Reagan as the State Department's Chief of Protocol as well. Sunnylands covers convert|400|acre|km2|1 guard-gated on a convert|650|acre|km2|1|sing=on parcel surrounded by a stucco wall at the northwest corner of Frank Sinatra Drive and Bob Hope Drive; the property includes a golf course. [cite news |first=Andrew |last=Rosenthal|title=Citizen Reagan Won't Be a Retiree|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE1D91338F931A35752C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print|publisher="The New York Times"|date=1989-01-02|accessdate=2007-11-24] Annenberg established the Annenberg Schools for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. He became a champion of public television, acquiring many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Reagan and the Linus Pauling Medal for Humanitarianism. In 1989, he established the Annenberg Foundation, and 1993, created the Annenberg Challenge, a US$500 million, five-year reform effort and the largest single gift ever made to American public education.

He sold "TV Guide", "Seventeen", and a few other publications to Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch in 1988 for US$3 billion, announcing that he would devote the rest of his life to philanthropy.

During his lifetime, it is estimated that Annenberg donated over US$2 billion. "Education...", he once said, "holds civilization together" [Krieger, Diane, "Forever Annenberg", Trojan Family Magazine, http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/winter02/annenberg.html, Winter 2002] . Many school buildings, libraries, theaters, hospitals, and museums across the United States now bear his name. His collection of French impressionist art was valued at approximately US$1 billion in 1991 and was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City upon his passing in 2002. In 1990, he donated $50 million to the United Negro College Fund which was the largest amount ever contributed to the organization. [ [http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/1990.htm B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library] ]

Personal life

Annenberg's first marriage, to Veronica Dunkelman, ended in divorce in 1950 after eleven years together. While married Dunkelman and Annenberg had two children: a daughter, Wallis, and son, Roger. Roger committed suicide in 1962; to commemorate his death, Harvard University, where Roger was a student at the time, now has a Roger Annenberg Hall named in his honor. Annenberg's 1951 marriage to his second wife, Leonore "Lee" Cohn Rosentiel, was, by all accounts, a lasting and fulfilling relationship. Lee was a niece of Harry Cohn, founder and successful mogul of Columbia Pictures.

Death

Annenberg died at his home in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania on October 1, 2002 from complications dealing with pneumonia; he was aged 94.cite journal| date = 2002-10-08 | title = A Lasting Legacy | journal = University of Pennsylvania Almanac | volume = 49 | issue = 7 | publisher = University of Pennsylvania | location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | url = http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/v49/n07/death_annenberg.html | accessdate = 2007-11-24] He was survived by his wife Leonore, daughter Wallis, and two sisters, Enid Haupt, and Evelyn Hall. Including those by his wife's daughters from her first marriage (Diane Deshong and Elizabeth Kabler), he left behind seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

References

External links

* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/annenbergwa/annenbergwa.htm Walter Annenberg] at [http://www.museum.tv The Museum of Broadcast Communications]
* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/54/2000/LIR.jhtml?passListId=54&passYear=2000&passListType=Person&uniqueId=9PKR&datatype=Person Walter Annenberg on 2000 Forbes 400 (oldest member of the list)]
* [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2002-10-10/cb2.shtml Legacy of Annenbergs in PA GOP]
*Find A Grave|id=14576374