Background
Gruening, Ernest was born on February 6, 1887 in New York City. Son of Emil and Phebe (Fridenberg) Gruening.
Gruening, Ernest was born on February 6, 1887 in New York City. Son of Emil and Phebe (Fridenberg) Gruening.
He studied medicine at Harvard University, graduating in 1907.
Based on his experience as a reporter during medical school, he decided to become a journalist. He worked for the Boston American SLS a reporter; for the Boston Traveller as copy reader, city editor, and managing editor; for the New York Tribune as managing editor (1916-1920); and as managing editor of The Nation (1920-1923).
During World War I he served as an artillery officer and worked for the bureau of imports for the War Trade Board. In 1924 he was national publicity director in the presidential campaign of Senator Robert M. La Folette, Sr.
In 1934 he became editor of the New York Evening Post, but left the same year when he was appointed director of the federal Division of Territories and Island Possessions. This position, which he held until 1939, included supervision over Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, where he was also relief and reconstruction administrator from 1935 to 1937, he was responsible for a longterm reconstruction program. In 1939 he was appointed governor of Alaska and remained in that position until 1953. He advocated Alaskan statehood and, after Alaska became a state, was elected a U.S. senator in 1958. He was reelected in 1962, but lost his third campaign in 1968, his advanced age and his position on Vietnam contributing to his defeat.
He was particularly active in opposing U.S. exploitation of Latin America. As editor of The Nation, a post to which he returned in 1933, he uncovered details of the U.S. occupation of Haiti and Santo Domingo, as well as doing extensive research on the Cuban sugar industry. He also served as general adviser to the U.S. delegation to the seventh Pan-American Conference at Montevideo.
Member Alaska International Highway Commission 1938-1942. Governor of Alaska, 1939-1953. Clubs: Harvard (New York).
Married Dorothy E. Smith, November 19, 1914. Children: Ernest (deceased), Huntington Sanders, Peter B. (deceased).