Clark R. Mollenhoff
Encyclopedia
Clark R. Mollenhoff was a Pulitzer Prize
-winning journalist, lawyer, and columnist for The Des Moines Register.
, Mollenhoff graduated from high school
in Webster City, Iowa
. He began working for The Des Moines Register in 1942 while attending Drake University
law school, from which he graduated in 1944. Mollenhoff then served two years in the U.S. Navy before returning to the Register.
In 1958 Mollenhoff won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, for a series exposing racketeering and fraud in the Teamsters Union. His work led to a successful crack-down on the corruption.
In 1959 he received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College
.
In 1969 he served for a year as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon
, after which he became the Register's Washington bureau chief.
In 1977 Mollenhoff became a professor at Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia
while continuing to write a column for the Register.
In 1988 he wrote a biography of John Vincent Atanasoff
, the Iowa State College
professor who invented the first electronic digital computer
in 1939. Mollenhoff's book gives the Atanasoff perspective of the 1973 federal court decision of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
that ruled the ENIAC
computer patent invalid, and increased attention to Atanasoff's work.
Mollenhoff wrote twelve books and won many additional awards. He died in 1991 at age 69.
The Clark Mollenhoff Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting is awarded annually by the Institute on Political Journalism for the best investigative journalism article in a newspaper or magazine.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning journalist, lawyer, and columnist for The Des Moines Register.
Life and career
Born in Burnside, IowaBurnside, Iowa
Burnside is an unincorporated community in Webster County, Iowa, United States. Its elevation is 1,138 feet . Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 50521. Despite its small size, Burnside is the location of the area high school, Southeast Webster,...
, Mollenhoff graduated from high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Webster City, Iowa
Webster City, Iowa
Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country' with the Boone River meandering along the east side of the city from north to south...
. He began working for The Des Moines Register in 1942 while attending Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
law school, from which he graduated in 1944. Mollenhoff then served two years in the U.S. Navy before returning to the Register.
In 1958 Mollenhoff won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, for a series exposing racketeering and fraud in the Teamsters Union. His work led to a successful crack-down on the corruption.
In 1959 he received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Elijah P. Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoy was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. He was murdered by an opposition mob in Alton, Illinois during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials.Lovejoy's father was a Congregational minister...
Award as well as an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
.
In 1969 he served for a year as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, after which he became the Register's Washington bureau chief.
In 1977 Mollenhoff became a professor at Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
in Lexington, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
while continuing to write a column for the Register.
In 1988 he wrote a biography of John Vincent Atanasoff
John Vincent Atanasoff
John Vincent Atanasoff was an American physicist and inventor.The 1973 decision of the patent suit Honeywell v. Sperry Rand named him the inventor of the first automatic electronic digital computer...
, the Iowa State College
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
professor who invented the first electronic digital computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
in 1939. Mollenhoff's book gives the Atanasoff perspective of the 1973 federal court decision of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
that ruled the ENIAC
ENIAC
ENIAC was the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was a Turing-complete digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems....
computer patent invalid, and increased attention to Atanasoff's work.
Mollenhoff wrote twelve books and won many additional awards. He died in 1991 at age 69.
The Clark Mollenhoff Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting is awarded annually by the Institute on Political Journalism for the best investigative journalism article in a newspaper or magazine.
Books
- Washington Cover-up (1962), Doubleday, 1963, Popular Library, "How bureaucratic secrecy promotes corruption and waste in the federal government"
- Tentacles of Power: The Story of Jimmy Hoffa (1965), World Publishing
- Despoilers of Democracy (1965), Doubleday, "The real story of what Washington propagandists, arrogant bureaucrats, mismanagers, influence peddlers, and outright corrupters are doing to our Federal Government"
- The Pentagon: Politics, Profits and Plunder (1967), G.P. Putnam's Sons
- George Romney Mormon in Politics (1968), Meredith Press
- Strike Force: Organized Crime and the Government (1972), Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13852772-5
- The Man Who Pardoned Nixon (1976), The K.S. Giniger Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0900997891
- Game Plan for Disaster (1976), W.W. Norton & Co., ISBN 0-393-05543-4
- The President Who Failed: Carter out of Control (1980), Free Press, ISBN 0-02-921750-4
- Investigative Reporting: From Courthouse to White House (1981), Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-381870-0
- Atanasoff: Forgotten Father of the Computer (1988), ISBN 0-8138-0032-3
- Ballad to an Iowa Farmer: and Other Reflections (1991), Iowa State University Press ISBN 0-8138-1458-8
External links
- Des Moines Register
- American Journalism Review
- Mollenhoff Papers at Iowa State U. on John Atanasoff