Robert LeRoy Leroy Bartley

Background

Bartley, Robert LeRoy was born on October 12, 1937 in Marshall, Minnesota, United States. Son of Theodore French and Iva Mae (Radach) Bartley.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Iowa State University, 1959. Master of Science, University Wisconsin, 1962. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Macalester College, 1982.

Doctor of Laws (honorary), Babson College, 1987. HHD (honorary), Adelphi University, 1992.

Career

Bartley was famed for providing a conservative interpretation of the news every day, especially regarding economic issues. Bartley received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Iowa State University and a master's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Bartley started at the Journal in 1962.

After working as a staff reporter in the Chicago and Philadelphia bureaus, he became part of the editorial page staff in 1964. In 1972, he became editor of the editorial page, and in 1979 the editor of the Journal. In 1982, John Tebbel, professor emeritus of journalism at New York University, called Bartley "the most influential editorial writer of my time."

In 1983, Bartley was named a vice president of the Dow Jones & Company, the company that owned the Journal.

Bartley was the author of "The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again," published in 1992, a book on the economic policy of the Reagan administration. In December 2002, Bartley stepped down as editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. On the free market, he said "In general, 'the market' is smarter than the smartest of its individual participants."

He controversially wrote in favor of open borders and high rates of immigration to the United States.

After then Mexican President, Vicente Fox, declared in a speech in 2001 that "NAFTA should evolve into something like the European Union, with open borders for not only goods and investment but also people", Bartley wrote in support of having open borders between Mexico and the United States. Indeed, in that July 2, 2001 Wall Street Journal editorial, Bartley reminded readers that "during the immigration debate of 1984 we suggested an ultimate goal to guide passing policies--a constitutional amendment: 'There shall be open borders.'".

Achievements

• He won a Pulitzer Prize for opinion writing and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Bush administration in 2003. In 1980, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. In December 2003, a week before Bartley died of cancer, President George W. Bush announced that Bartley was being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again

    (While the 1980s clearly represented a decade of waste and...)

  • The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again by Robert L. Bartley (1992-05-04)
  • The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again by Bartley, Robert L. 1st Free Press paper edition (1995) Paperback

Views

Quotations: "In general, 'the market' is smarter than the smartest of its individual participants.".

Membership

Trustee emeritus Mayo Foundation Served to Second lieutenant United States Army Reserve, 1960. Member American Society Newspaper Editors, Society Professional Journalists, National Conference Editorial Writers, American Political Science Association, Council on Foreign Relations, Heights Casino Club.

Connections

Married Edith Jean Lillie, December 29, 1960. Children: Edith Elizabeth, Susan Lillie, Katherine French.

Father:

Theodore French Bartley

Mother:

Iva Mae (Radach) Bartley

Spouse:

Edith Jean Lillie

child:

Susan Lillie Bartley

child:

Edith Elizabeth Bartley

child:

Katherine French Bartley