Widely described as the last survivor of the era of personal
journalism, Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840–December 22, 1921) reigned over the editorial page of the Louisville Courier-Journal for more than fifty years, attracting
national attention far beyond his paper’s immediate influence with his brilliant, original phrasemaking and unwavering principles. As the Boston Globe wrote of him, “Marse
Henry,” as he was known, made “a pedestal by the sheer
force of [his] personality and then [occupied] it through
storm and sunshine for more than half a century.”
Born in Washington, D.C., to a member of Congress,
Watterson hoped to become a pianist, but those dreams
were shattered when he irreparably injured his hand. So,
at an early age, he worked in Washington and in New York
as a musical critic for several papers before returning south
when the Civil War broke out.
Though opposed to secession, he joined the Confederate
army, serving as an aide first to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and then to Gen. Leonidas Polk, becoming the chief of
Confederate scouts. But his active military service was cut
short because of poor eyesight, so Watterson became editor of several newspapers, most notably the Chattanooga
Rebel. It was an auspicious choice; as the New York Times
wrote of him: “He was something of a rebel always, impatient of authority, fond of jabbing august ribs. His journalism was a perpetual cavalry charge.”
After the war, he revived a newspaper in Nashville, then
was hired to edit the Louisville Journal; when he quadrupled
circulation within six months, he initiated a merger with the
Courier, giving him an ownership share, as well. Watterson,
like most editors of the era, concerned himself solely with
politics and the editorial column; with his spirited defense
of Abraham Lincoln’s memory during Reconstruction, and
advocacy of education for newly freed ex-slaves, he quickly
achieved prominence as the voice of the new South. And
his paper employed twice as many editorial writers as it did
news reporters.
In 1872, he was one of four prominent editors who
formed the liberal Democratic movement that nominated
Horace Greeley for what became a disastrous run for president. Four years later, he was one of Democrat Samuel Tilden’s strongest backers—and, in the wake of the disputed
election, publicly called for one hundred thousand supporters to march on Washington to prevent Rutherford Hayes’
swearing-in. At the same time, Watterson was elected to
Congress, but only served a few months.
That was the end of Watterson’s unquestioned allegiance
to the Democrats, though he served as a delegate to its
national conventions until 1892. He broke with President
Grover Cleveland, refused to support nominee William
Jennings Bryan in 1896 and opposed Woodrow Wilson’s
candidacy in 1912. Yet when World War I broke out in 1914,
Watterson advocated for United States involvement, arguing: “To hell with the Hohenzollerns and the Hapsburgs.”
Throughout, Watterson epitomized the nineteenth-century standard of the writing editor; as the Los Angeles
Times noted, to Watterson a newspaper was an editor’s
“consecrated sword of combat and chivalry. In those days,
an editor who did not write was a rifle without trigger. It
was unthinkable and impossible.”
In 1902, Watterson sold the Courier-Journal to Robert
Bingham, but remained on as an editorial writer until 1919,
when he was asked to retire because of his opposition to the
League of Nations. On his death two years later, the Boston
Globe wrote: “Mr. Watterson was not always right. No man
who passed so rapidly from one side to another could be
right much more than half of the time. But Mr. Watterson
was always genuine. He wrote and printed exactly what he
happened to believe at the time of writing, which is a good
deal.”
Further Reading
Wall, Joseph Frazier. Henry Watterson: Reconstructed Rebel.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1956.
Eric Fettmann