The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst [Hardcover]

David Nasaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2000

David Nasaw's magnificent, definitive biography of William Randolph Hearst is based on newly released private and business papers and interviews. For the first time, documentation of Hearst's interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt, as well as with movie giants Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Irving Thalberg, completes the picture of this colossal American. Hearst, known to his staff as the Chief, was a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the country, including twenty-eight newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and thirteen magazines. As the first practitioner of what is now known as synergy, Hearst used his media stronghold to achieve political power unprecedented in the industry. Americans followed his metamorphosis from populist to fierce opponent of Roosevelt and the New Deal, from citizen to congressman, and we are still fascinated today by the man characterized in the film classic CITIZEN KANE. In Nasaw's portrait, questions about Hearst's relationships are addressed, including those about his mistress in his Harvard days, who lived with him for ten years; his legal wife, Millicent, a former showgirl and the mother of his five sons; and Marion Davies, his companion until death. Recently discovered correspondence with the architect of Hearst's world-famous estate, San Simeon, is augmented by taped interviews with the people who worked there and witnessed Hearst's extravagant entertaining, shedding light on the private life of a very public man.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The epic scope of historian David Nasaw's biography matches the titanic personality and achievements of William Randolph Hearst (1862-1951), who built "the nation's first media conglomerate" from a single San Francisco newspaper. Based on previously unavailable sources, including Hearst's personal papers, Nasaw's long but absorbing narrative gives a full-bodied account of the often contradictory mogul: "a huge man with a tiny voice; a shy man who was most comfortable in crowds ... an autocratic boss who could not fire people; a devoted husband who lived with his mistress." Wife Millicent Hearst and actress-inamorata Marion Davies also emerge with more complexity than in previous portraits like Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, whose factual inaccuracies Nasaw dissects. The author tempers the usual simplistic account of Hearst's political evolution from fire-breathing leftist to red-baiting conservative, calling him "a classic liberal" who believed in less-is-more government and deplored fascism as much as communism. Fresh insights and elegantly turned phrases abound in Nasaw's depiction of Hearst's activities as newspaper publisher, movie producer, and politician, but what's even more intriguing is the poignant personal drama of a man born "in the city of great expectations on the edge of the continent" who was buried 89 years later in San Francisco, "the place he used to know." --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

It has been 40 years since the last major Hearst biographyAthus this new volume has inherent value in portraying anew the great forerunner of Rupert Murdoch and other modern-day media moguls. This long-winded tome, however, often bogs down in trivial details of Hearst's tangled personal and professional life. Nasaw (Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements) is the first to have had access to the formerly closed Hearst archives, but he doesn't really offer any surprises. On the big questions, the author only confirms what we already knew: that it was a lack of academic diligence that lay behind Hearst's failure at Harvard; that, like countless other well-heeled young men of his generation, he kept a mistress before marriage; that he was na?ve in his dealings with Hitler. Neither is it a revelation that Hearst's financial collapse in the late 1930s was the result of spendthrift habits combined with the dour economic climate of the times. But the Hearst whom Nasaw portrays in such extraordinary (and excessive) detail is still the fascinating figure we've known for years: the self-absorbed genius equally addicted to power and possessions, the press baron interested not just in reporting news but in making and manipulating it. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC alternate selection. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 687 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First edition. edition (June 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395827590
• ISBN-13: 978-0395827598
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, brilliant!, July 7, 2000

By 

Terry (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (Hardcover)

I read W. Swanberg's 1961 biography of Hearst when it came out and have reread it several times since then. I just finished Nasaw's new biography and have concluded it is superior to the latter in depth and overall content. Superbly written, it is much more dazzling coverage of arguably the most fascintating public and private person outside of Washington D.C (excluding Hearst's brief role as a Congressman). Hearst lived a life that undoubtedly will not be experienced again by anybody, due to the era in which he lived and the opportunities and circumstances that era's environment presented him. I've been reading autobiographies and biographies since my childhood and this one of Hearst is the best to date. The life of our current wealthiest citizen, Billy Gates, vastly pales in comparison with that of Hearst. Highly recommended!

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly written biogrphy, May 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (Hardcover)

David Nasaw has crafted in "The Chief" a brilliant portrait of one of the most important figures in twentieth century America. With the help of never before seen documents, and privileged access to the Hearst family archives, Nasaw closely follows Hearst's life and times through his young life, his Harvard years, and the subsequent rise, fall, and recovery of his publishing and movie empire. It is rare to find an academic work of this caliber. Nasaw combines the serious and diligent research of a distinguished historian with the story telling ability of a novelist to make The Chief a worthy read for anyone interested in Hearst, whose life formed the basis for Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The dichotomy of a visionary, December 5, 2000

By 

Howard L. Dixon (Hopewell, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (Hardcover)

"The Chief" a wonderful and well balanced portrayal of the rise and fall of one of the past centuries greats. The book does an excellent job of clearly documenting the source of W.R.'s wealth and his manner of spending it. For nearly 5 decades he ruled his publishing empire with an iron hand when necessary and a velvet glove other times. This book documents the dichotomy of preaching family and morals in his newspapers while openly keeping a mistress (the movie star, Marion Davies) for many years. On the one hand it shows his vision as the initial advocate for the 40 hour work week in both private and public service and on the other his total naivete on the actions of Mussolini and Hitler. For example, he thought he'd altered Hitler's views (in both print and during face-to-face meetings) toward the Jews in the 1930s. The author, David Nasaw, was given access to boxes and boxes of correspondence between W.R. and everyone inside and outside his circle. Correspondence which was very blunt by even today's standards. This goes a long ways in providing a clear and documented trail of W.R.'s successes and failures in both his private and public life. For example, he writes to his oldest son George when he was 36, "Somebody had to be in charge of the station. You have not yet demonstrated the ability to run a station... Just remember, George, you have never demonstrated anything in you life yet. You have not even demonstrated a willingness to work."

Sadly, his power base was substantially altered by near rabid attacks on the far left during the 1930s, the depression, and the graduated income tax structure in this country. In other words he failed to anticipate nor recognize the culminating points through life's journey and as a result suffered accordingly. In general this book is well worth the read if you can get through the 600 pages.