{{Short description|American journalist (1892–1944)}} {{Infobox person | name = Raymond Clapper | image = Raymond Clapper c. 1942.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Raymond Lewis Clapper | birth_date = {{birth date|1892|5|30}} | birth_place = La Cygne, Kansas, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1944|2|1|1892|5|30}} | death_place = Marshall Islands, South Seas Mandate, Japan | other_names = | alma_mater = | occupation = Journalist | known_for = | spouse = {{marriage|Olive Ewing|1913}} | children = 1 son, 1 daughter | parents = }} '''Raymond Lewis Clapper''' (May 30, 1892 – February 1, 1944) was an American journalist, commentator and news analyst for both radio and newspapers<ref name="rs">{{cite book|last=DeLong|first=Thomas A.|date=1996|title=Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|ISBN=978-0-7864-2834-2|page=55}}</ref> who was described in a ''Life'' magazine article as "one of America's ablest and most-respected journalists."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Raymond+Clapper%22&pg=PA34|title=Raymond Clapper|date=March 13, 1944|accessdate=3 March 2016|work=Life|page=34}}</ref> Clapper died in a plane crash while covering the invasion of the Marshall Islands during World War II.
== Early years == Raymond Lewis Clapper was born on May 30, 1892 in La Cygne, Kansas, the son of a farmer of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. When he was young, his father moved the family to Kansas City, Kansas in order to take a factory job to better support his family.<ref name="spt" /> Clapper married Olive Ewing in 1913. They had a daughter and a son.<ref name="scs" /><ref name="spt">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19440903&id=nZExAAAAIBAJ&pg=6948,429824&hl=en|title=Mrs. Raymond Clapper Pens A Human, Moving Biography|last1=Bonner|first1=Mrs. J.W.|date=September 3, 1944|accessdate=4 March 2016|agency=St. Petersburg Times|location=Florida, St. Petersburg|page=28}}</ref>
Clapper was a graduate of the University of Kansas.<ref name="scs" /> In 1915, he was elected editor-in-chief of the ''University Daily Kansan'', the campus newspaper.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4489819/the_gazette_globe/|title=(untitled brief)|date=May 6, 1915|accessdate=March 1, 2016|work=The Gazette Globe|location=Kansas, Kansas City|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>
== Newspapers == In the summer of 1916, while he was still enrolled at the University of Kansas, Clapper worked as a reporter for ''The Kansas City Star''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4489972/lawrence_daily_journalworld/|title=(untitled brief)|date=May 20, 1916|accessdate=March 1, 2016|work=Lawrence Daily Journal-World|location=Kansas, Lawrence|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> That fall, he began working for the United Press (UP) wire service in Chicago.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4490100/lawrence_daily_journalworld/|title=Takes Position at Chicago|date=September 14, 1916|accessdate=March 1, 2016|work=Lawrence Daily Journal-World|location=Kansas, Lawrence|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> In 1917, he was promoted to manager of UP's Northwest Bureau, which had headquarters in Chicago and served newspapers in western Canada and portions of six states.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4490337/the_kansas_city_kansan/|title=K.C.K. Boy Wins Promotion|date=May 14, 1917|accessdate=March 1, 2016|work=The Kansas City Kansan|location=Kansas, Kansas City|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>
In 1923, Clapper was transferred to Washington, D.C., to report on politics there. Six years later, he was made the manager of UP's Washington operation.<ref name="gwu">{{cite web|url=https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/clapper-raymond.cfm|title=Teaching Eleanor Roosevelt Glossary: Raymond Clapper (1892-1944)|website=The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project|publisher=The George Washington University|accessdate=3 March 2016}}</ref>
Clapper's success resulted to a large extent from "his objective writing style and his ability to explain the politics and policies of Washington for the average reader."<ref name="gwu" /> His reputation was enhanced nationally by an exposé, "Racketeering in Washington," that was published in 1933. Later that year he was hired by ''The Washington Post''. A year later, he began a column, ''Between You and Me'', which was distributed daily to 176 Scripps-Howard Newspapers newspapers.<ref name="gwu" />
== Radio == Clapper was a newscaster for the Mutual Broadcasting System in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref name="sies">{{cite book|last=Sies|first= Luther F. |date=2014|title=Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960|edition=2nd|volume=1|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|ISBN=978-0-7864-5149-4|page=135}}</ref> In 1942, he replaced Raymond Gram Swing on Mutual's evening newscast when Swing moved to another network. A reviewer writing about Clapper's debut broadcast wrote, "His approach is colloquial, colorful and vivid ..."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1942/Billboard%201942-10-03.pdf|title=Raymond Clapper|last1=Burr|first1=Eugene|date=October 3, 1942|access-date=4 March 2016|agency=Billboard|page=7}}</ref>
He also "read and interpreted" election results on NBC in November 1938<ref>{{cite journal|date=November 1938|title=Election Returns|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Stations/Station-Album-IDX/IDX/Networks/NBC-Presents-10-28-to-04-40-OCR-Page-0074.pdf|journal=NBC Presents|volume=1|issue=2|accessdate=4 March 2016}}{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and was part of NBC's team of reporters covering the 1940 Republican National Convention.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Radio-Guide-IDX-Site/IDX/1940/Radio-Guide-1940-06-22-OCR-Page-0015.pdf|title=Coming Radio Events|date=June 22, 1940|accessdate=4 March 2016|agency=Radio Guide}}{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
Clapper's success in newspapers and radio led to opportunities in public speaking. An article in the January 24, 1942, issue of ''Billboard'' listed Clapper among "top radio names who are currently lecturing or have recently lectured, and who have been getting between $1,000 and $1,500."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1942/Billboard%201942-01-24.pdf|title=Lecture Bureaus Up Bookings of Radio Commentators, Especially Those Who Can Spiel on Far East|date=January 24, 1942|access-date=4 March 2016|work=Billboard|page=5}}</ref>
== Death == Clapper was killed February 1, 1944,<ref name="rs" /> during World War II, when an airplane in which he was riding collided with another plane while reporting on the Allied invasion of the Marshall Islands. "Both planes crashed into a lagoon," a news report said, leaving no survivors.<ref name="scs">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4489269/santa_cruz_sentinel/|title=Raymond Clapper Killed In Plane Crash In Marshall Isle Invasion|last1=Wilson|first1=Lyle C.|date=February 3, 1944|accessdate=March 1, 2016|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|location=California, Santa Cruz|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> When he died, Clapper was still officially a political columnist for Scripps-Howard, but he was reporting on the invasion of the Marshall Islands.<ref name="scs" />
Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle, the first recipient of the Raymond Clapper Memorial Award (May 1944), wrote: "Ray Clapper's passing hit us hard. He had many friends in the war theater. He traveled to all the wars because he felt it his duty to inform himself, and everywhere he went he was liked for himself and respected for his fine mind."<ref>Ernie Pyle, ''Brave Men'' (New York: Penguin Books, 2023), 204. Originally published 1944.</ref>
Marquis Childs took over Clapper's column ''Washington Calling'' when he died.<ref> {{cite news | title = Marquis Childs: Foreign Correspondent, Columnist | work = Los Angeles Times | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-05-mn-162-story.html | date = 5 July 1990 | accessdate = 26 November 2019}}</ref>
== Book == Clapper's widow edited some of his columns into a book, ''Watching the World'', published on July 10, 1944, by Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKU6AQAAIAAJ|title=Watching the World|website=Google Books|accessdate=3 March 2016|last1=Clapper|first1=Raymond|last2=Clapper|first2=Olive Ewing|year=1944}}</ref> The book was described in a contemporary advertisement as containing "the cream of his work -- columns, broadcasts, articles ... reflecting outstanding events during those critical years."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19440710&id=CXQbAAAAIBAJ&pg=1767,994495&hl=en|title=(Horne's advertisement)|date=July 10, 1944|accessdate=3 March 2016|work=The Pittsburgh Press|page=9}}</ref> The book included a 32-page biography of Clapper by Mrs. Clapper.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Radio-Life-IDX/IDX/Radio-Life-1944-09-03-OCR-Page-0028.pdf|title=Book by Clapper|date=September 3, 1944|accessdate=4 March 2016|agency=Radio Life|page=28}}{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
== Legacy == Clapper's legacy included the following:
* The Raymond Clapper Memorial Association was incorporated on March 10, 1944, in Washington, D.C. "to perpetuate the memory of Clapper"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19440310&id=hNM0AAAAIBAJ&pg=3169,3869783&hl=en|title=Raymond Clapper Memorial Association Is Created|date=March 10, 1944|accessdate=4 March 2016|work=St. Petersburg Times}}</ref> through the Raymond Clapper Memorial Award,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4497972/indiana_gazette/|title=(untitled brief)|date=April 5, 2001|accessdate=March 2, 2016|work=Indiana Gazette|location=Pennsylvania, Indiana|page=25|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> which was presented annually "to a journalist or team for distinguished Washington reporting."<ref name=JournoInstitue>{{cite web|title=Raymond Clapper Memorial Award winners (1944 to 2011)|url=https://www.pressclubinstitute.org/raymond-clapper-memorial-award-winners-from-1944-to-2011/|author=Journalism Institute|publisher=National Press Club|access-date=Nov 15, 2023}}</ref> The White House Correspondents' Association, and sometimes the American Society of Newspaper Editors, distributed the Raymond Clapper Award from 1944 to 2003, at which point it passed to Scripps Howard's National Journalism Awards.<ref name=JournoInstitue /> Under Scripps Howard, the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award was presented from 2004 to 2011, at which point it was discontinued. * In 1944, the World War II Liberty ship {{SS|Raymond Clapper}} was launched in Jacksonville, Florida. It was sponsored by Clapper's widow and daughter and built by St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19440522&id=uN5OAAAAIBAJ&pg=2051,2782741&hl=en|title=S.S. Raymond Clapper Launched in Florida|date=May 22, 1944|accessdate=4 March 2016|agency=Toledo Blade|location=Ohio, Toledo|page=2}}</ref> * The Library of Congress has 75,000 items in its "Raymond Clapper papers, 1908-1962" collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms010185|title=Raymond Clapper papers, 1908-1962|website=Library of Congress|accessdate=3 March 2016}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{cite web|title=Honoring Raymond Clapper|author=Journalism Institute|publisher=National Press Club|date= December 5, 2021|url=https://www.pressclubinstitute.org/2021/12/05/honoring-raymond-clapper/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapper, Raymond}} Category:1892 births Category:1944 deaths Category:20th-century American journalists Category:American civilians killed in World War II Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents Category:American war correspondents of World War II Category:E. W. Scripps Company people Category:Journalists from Kansas Category:Journalists killed while covering World War II Category:People from Linn County, Kansas Category:University of Kansas alumni Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Marshall Islands Category:20th-century American male journalists