Seldes, George. One Thousand Americans. New York: Boni & Gaer, 1947.
312 pages.
George Seldes (1890-1995) covered the Spanish Civil War from Madrid
for the New York Post, and from 1940 to 1950 he edited the weekly newsletter
"In Fact." A free-lance muckraker for most of his career, Seldes retired in
1950 but was rediscovered in the 1980s; his autobiography "Witness to a
Century" was published in 1987 and became a bestseller. With more than a
dozen books to his credit, Seldes is considered by progressives as one of
the century's leading anti-fascists. In addition to tracking the extreme
Right, Seldes also tracked corporations and big money, and their power and
influence in the American press. (Regrettably, this aspect of his research
is no longer important to the Left, which for the past two decades has
concentrated more on identity politics and multiculturalism.)
This 1947 book is dense with the names of major American power brokers,
including interests such as J.P. Morgan and groups such as the National
Association of Manufacturers. One 80-page section on the magazine press
deals with both the Henry Luce and Morgan empires. Throughout this book,
Seldes connects the interlocking dots between owners, directors, and their
handmaidens within the political process. "These one thousand Americans are
interested in property rights, rather than the general welfare," and have
the power to "maintain the status quo system or to move backward."
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