Background
MacArthur is the son of J. Roderick MacArthur and Christiane L’Entendart, and the grandson of billionaire John D. MacArthur. He grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, graduating from North Shore Country Day School in 1974.
MacArthur is the son of J. Roderick MacArthur and Christiane L’Entendart, and the grandson of billionaire John D. MacArthur. He grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, graduating from North Shore Country Day School in 1974.
He graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1978.
He is the president of Harper"s Magazine. MacArthur writes a monthly column for the Providence Journal and, in French, for Le Devoir on a wide range of topics from politics to culture. This new entity acquired Harper"s Magazine (which was then losing nearly $2 million per year and was on the verge of ceasing publication) for $250,000.
He became president and publisher of Harper"s Magazine in 1983.
In 1993 he received the Baltimore Sun"s Half-Life Mencken Writing Award for best editorial/op-ed column for his New York Times exposé of "Nayirah", the Kuwaiti diplomat"s daughter who helped fake the Iraqi baby-incubator atrocity. MacArthur has been a reporter for The Wall Street Journal (1977), the Washington Star (1978), The Bergen Record (1978–1979), Chicago Sun-Times (1979–1982), and an assistant foreign editor at United Press International (1982).
MacArthur serves on the board of The Author"s Guild and the Death Penalty Information Center.