Robert John Donovan

Background

Robert Donovan was born on August 21, 1912, in Buffalo, New York.

Education

Robert Donovan studied at Lafayette High School in Buffalo. Unfortunately, he could not afford college in the Depression years.

Career

Because Robert Donovan could not afford college, he took a job as a copy boy, eventually getting himself hired as a reporter for the Buffalo Courier-Express. A 26-year career with the New York Herald Tribune followed. He moved there in 1937, covering local government and the United Nations.

With the onset of World War II, Robert Donovan joined the United States Army, serving in the 2nd Infantry and seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge. Donovan left the military as a sergeant, returning to the Herald and being assigned to Washington. Here, he gained the trust of President Truman and then-President Eisenhower, gaining access to private information led to such books as Eisenhower: The Inside Story. Donovan would have similar success with President Kennedy, an association that would lead to his bestselling book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II.

Robert Donovan started to work at the Los Angeles Times in 1963. Many believe that his work there did much to make it a nationally respected newspaper. After becoming an associate editor there and working as such from 1970 to 1977, Donovan left the Los Angeles Times to become a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Donovan also taught journalism at Princeton for a year and was a senior fellow at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Robert Donovan continued to write books well into his eighties, as well as contributing to newspapers. A former president of the White House Correspondents Association, he was the author of many works, including two volumes on Truman - Conflict, and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945-1948 and tumultuous Years, The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1949-1953 - The Second Victory: The Marshall Plan, the Postwar Revival of Europe, and Boxing the Kangaroo: A Reporter's Memoir.

Achievements

• Robert Donovan was well known as a journalist and writer. He served as a correspondent for more than thirty years in such magazines as the New York Herald Tribune and Los Angeles Times. As a writer, Donovan was the author of fourteen books, many about Washington politics.

Works

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  • Eisenhower: The Inside Story

    (Robert Donovan, a Washington correspondent of the New Yor...)

    1956
  • Boxing the Kangaroo

    (In Boxing the Kangaroo: A Reporter's Memoir, Robert Donov...)

    2000
  • The Second Victory

    (Describes how American foreign aid helped the countries o...)

    1987
  • Unsilent Revolution

    (Unsilent Revolution is the story of the impact television...)

    1992
  • Conflict and Crisis

    (Robert Donovan's Conflict and Crisis presents a detailed ...)

    1977
  • Nemesis

    (Analyzes the impact of American intervention in Asia on t...)

    1984
  • The Assassins 1955
  • PT 109 1961
  • The Future of the Republican Party 1976
  • Tumultuous Years 1982
  • Confidential Secretary 1988

Connections

Robert Donovan's first wife, Martha Fisher, died in 1974. They had three children, Patricia, Amy, and Peter Donovan. In 1978 Donovan married Gerry Van Der Heuvel Donovan.

Acquaintance:

Harry S. Truman

Harry Truman was the 33rd president of the United States. He led his country through the final stages of World War II and the early years of the Cold War, vigorously opposing Soviet expansionism in Europe and sending United States forces to turn back a communist invasion of South Korea.

late wife:

Martha Fisher

Martha Donovan's maiden name was Fisher. She was Robert Donovan's first wife. Martha passed away in 1974.

Wife:

Gerry Van Der Heuvel Donovan

Gerry Van Der Heuvel Donovan was Robert Donovan's second wife.

Daughter:

Patricia Donovan

Daughter:

Amy Donovan

Son:

Peter Donovan

Acquaintance:

Dwight David Eisenhower

Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States who had been supreme commander of the Allied forces in western Europe during World War II.

Acquaintance:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States who faced several foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress.