Robert L. Bartley awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
Should be interesting today to see how widely in the press the news is picked up about Bob Bartley, the recently retired editor of the Wall Street Journal, being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
I cannot think of a more deserving man for such an honour. I only met Bartley once, at a dinner last year in Washington, but I'm hard pressed to think of any person outside of electoral politics who has done more for the conservative movement in the last few decades than this man. Bartley championed issues on the WSJ editorial page like supply side economics and a strong defence for the US when these ideas were considered far out of the mainstream. I truly believe the Reagan victory would not have happened without Bartley's incessant championing of conservative values. He is also, as my friend Bob Tyrrell mentioned in a speech last year, responsible for the invention of the "reported editorial." Before Bartley editorial columns were primarly space for editors/writers to pontificate and mouth off. Bartley's editorial page included original reporting, often moving stories ahead and even breaking news. He's one of the 20th century's greatest newspapermen, no question. I'm told by a friend his health is not well, either, so all the more special for him that he has been awarded the medal. Congratulations.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 1:46 AM
