Martin Tolchin

Martin Tolchin (September 20, 1928 – February 17, 2022) was an American journalist and author. He was a longtime political correspondent for The New York Times, and later co-founded The Hill and Politico.[1]

Martin Tolchin
Born(1928-09-20)September 20, 1928
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 17, 2022(2022-02-17) (aged 93)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Utah
New York Law School (JD)
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • editor
  • newspaper founder
Years active1954–2007
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1965; died 2016)​
PartnerBarbara Rosenfeld
Children2

Early life and education

Tolchin was born in Brooklyn. He attended the University of Utah and New York Law School, and was in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.[2] He stated in his memoir that he was prevented from practising law whilst in the army because he refused to reveal the identities of classmates who, like him, studied Marxism while at high school.[3] His political activities, though they had taken place before he joined the Army, meant he was given a general discharge instead of an honorable one.[3] This setback ended his hopes of a legal career.[3]

Career

After taking a job hunting course at the Veterans Administration and writing over 100 letters to prospective employers, Tolchin was hired by The New York Times as a copy boy.[3] From there he progressed to writing features for the women's page, and then the metropolitan desk. He had a reputation for following New York mayor John Lindsay more closely than any other reporting from the paper, and broke stories on the city's troubled hospital system.[3] Tolchin worked at the Times for 40 years,[4] a stint split between New York (where he was City Hall bureau chief[5] and a political and investigative reporter) and Washington (where he was a Congressional correspondent).[6][7] At Washington, Tolchin reported on the Iran–Contra affair,[8][9] the Anita Hill hearings[10] and Washington's response to the New York City financial crisis.[11]

In 1994, Tolchin founded The Hill alongside businessman and Democratic political insider Jerry Finkelstein, where he served as publisher and editor-in-chief until his retirement in 2004.[12][13] The Hill positioned itself as a rival to the established Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, with Tolchin promising to be "wittier and more audacious."[3] The Hill styled itself as an "equal opportunity basher", willing to target both Democrats and Republicans with its coverage.[3] The launch of The Hill coincided with the Republican Revolution that brought Newt Gingrich to power as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and in 1997 broke the story of a failed leadership bid against him.[3] Finkelstein's son Jimmy, who inherited ownership of The Hill, said Tolchin "knew Washington from top to bottom."[3] Tolchin helped launch Politico in 2007 and was a member of its founding editorial team.[2]

Tolchin wrote several books, frequently co-authoring them with his wife Susan. These include his 1972 book To The Victor: Political Patronage from the Clubhouse to the White House which would be cited in multiple U.S. Supreme Court decisions[14] including Elrod v. Burns and Branti v. Finkel.[15]

Personal life

Tolchin married journalist Susan Goldsmith, a political scientist, in 1965, and they remained married until her death in 2016.[2][16] They had two children, Charles (d. 2003) and Karen.[17]

Tolchin died from cancer at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 17, 2022, at the age of 93.[2] At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with Barbara Rosenfeld.[2]

Awards
  • Everett M. Dirksen Prize for Distinguished Reporting of Congress[18]

Bibliography
  • Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (1971) To The Victor: Political Patronage from the Clubhouse to the White House[19]
  • Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (1976). Clout: Womanpower and Politics[20]
  • Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (2007) A World Ignited: How Apostles of Ethnic, Religious and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe[21]
  • Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (2009) Glass Houses: Congressional Ethics And The Politics Of Venom[22]
  • Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (2015) Pinstripe Patronage[23][24]
  • Martin Tolchin (autobiography, 2019) Politics, Journalism, and The Way Things Were[25]

References
  1. "Of Power, Politics and Patronage | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  2. Fried, Joseph P. (February 17, 2022). "Martin Tolchin, Former Times Reporter and a Founder of The Hill, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  3. "Martin Tolchin, acclaimed DC journalist and founder of The Hill, dies at 93". Yahoo! News. February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. "Times Reporter Wins Award For His Articles on Congress". The New York Times. April 24, 1983. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  5. New York Media LLC (March 20, 1972). New York. New York Media, LLC.
  6. "Martin Tolchin | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  7. United States Congress (1993). Official Congressional Directory. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  8. Tolchin, Martin (January 20, 1987). "CRITICS SAY U.S. 'PRIVATIZED' FOREIGN POLICY ON IRAN". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  9. Tolchin, Martin; Binder, David (June 23, 1988). "WASHINGTON TALK: Briefing; In Praise of C-Span". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  10. Tolchin, Martin (October 14, 1991). "THE THOMAS NOMINATION; HILL SAID TO PASS A POLYGRAPH TEST". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  11. Tolchin, Martin (October 10, 1975). "BANK DATA SOUGHT ON CITY HOLDINGS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  12. "New York Publisher To Start Capitol Hill Newspaper". AP News.
  13. Kirkham, Chris (September 6, 2006). "Yet Another Newspaper Aimed at Capitol Hill". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  14. Court, United States Supreme (1996). Official Reports of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court.
  15. United States Congress House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization (1990). Foreign Investment in the United States: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First Session, November 15, 1989. U.S. Government Printing Office.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Grimes, William (May 20, 2016). "Susan Tolchin, Political Scientist Who Foresaw Voter Anger, Dies at 75". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  17. "Charles P. Tolchin, 34, Author And Lecturer on Cystic Fibrosis". The New York Times. August 9, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  18. Kurtz, Howard (May 25, 1994). "THE CAPITOL CLARION". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  19. Tolchin, Martin (1972). To the victor ...; political patronage from the clubhouse to the White House. Random House. ISBN 0-394-46036-7. OCLC 1181436.
  20. Tolchin, Susan J. (1974). Clout : womanpower and politics. Martin Tolchin. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 0-698-10600-8. OCLC 1206174.
  21. Tolchin, Martin (2007). A World Ignited : How Apostles of Ethnic, Religious, and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4617-1165-0. OCLC 1065720584.
  22. Tolchin, Susan J. (2004). Glass houses : congressional ethics and the politics of venom. Martin Tolchin. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-5101-3. OCLC 855218714.
  23. Tolchin, Martin (2016). Pinstripe patronage : political favoritism from the clubhouse to the White House and beyond. Susan J. Tolchin. London. ISBN 978-1-317-25418-8. OCLC 933433419.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. "Books by Martin Tolchin and Complete Book Reviews". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  25. Tolchin, Martin (November 21, 2019). Politics, journalism and the way things were : my life at The Times, The Hill, and Politico. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-42352-0. OCLC 1111263366.
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