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D in the Heart of Texas             

Jerry T. Dealey

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A ‘Turn-Around’ for the Dallas Morning News

Early History of Texas
The Europeans and American Settlers
John Neely Bryan – And Other Early Founders
Some Wheeling-Dealing to Grow a City
George Bannerman Dealey
The Dallas Morning News is Born
The Great 1908 Flood
G. B. Promotes Other Early Dallas Growth
The "City of Hate"
Building the ‘Subway’, Triple Underpass, Dealey Plaza
The Other Buildings Around Dealey Plaza
The Elder G. B. Dealey
The Dallas "Citizens Council"
The ‘Right Wing’ Direction of Dallas - "City of Hate" Revisited
A ‘Turn-Around’ for the Dallas Morning News
The Pre-November ‘Hate’ Incidents
Dallas’ Law Enforcement
November 1963, Why Dallas?
Dealey Plaza Changes To-Date

In the G. B. Dealey days of the Dallas Morning News, until his death in 1946, the Editorial policies of the paper might be considered ‘conservative’, but on occasion they would lean to the more Liberal side. A Professor Paul F. Boller, Jr. did a study on the Morning News editorial position in the mid 1940’s, which concluded that the Morning News since the 1930’s was a mildly New Deal, pro-Russian newspaper that favored U. S. recognition of the Russian government. During G. B. Dealey’s stewardship in the late 1930’s, the News had defended freedom of the press for the Daily Worker, criticized the Hearst Press’ drive against academic freedoms, called Mayor Frank Hague ‘un-American’ and ‘Hitleristic’ for suppressing left-wing speakers in Jersey City, and dismissed an inquiry by the Texas legislature into alleged Communism at the University of Texas as a needless investigation. It criticized “Red Hunters” in 1936, and labeled the various “Red Scares”, created by patriotic organizations, a racket to boost donations from thousands of “frightened suckers”. In fact, G. B. Dealey’s support of many ‘Liberal’ and ‘Social’ causes was often frowned upon by the Dallas Citizens’ Council.


This all changed under Edward Musgrove “Ted” Dealey. The conservative nature of the Dallas Morning News started taking the tone of the radical right. By the 1960’s, the editorial page was not just dissenting, but downright insulting. Every President since FDR had been subject to its wrath, including the “much too liberal” Eisenhower (who was considered conservative by most standards).


Lyndon Johnson was also a target for the paper, which had supported opponent Coke Stevenson, when Johnson was elected for the US Senate. When Johnson won by only 87 votes, the News immediately screamed “Fraud!” They then began a very personal campaign against Johnson that made Johnson look more like a common thief.


In the fall of 1961, Ted Dealey attended a special lunch for newspaper publishers at Kennedy’s White House. During the event, Dealey strongly angered the President by calling him soft on Communism, and produced and read a savage indictment of his host. He told the President, “You and your Administration are weak sisters”. “What was needed was a man on horseback to lead this nation, and many people in Texas and the Southwest think that you are riding Caroline’s tricycle.” Bringing the 3-year old Caroline into the discussion was, of course, a bad breach of taste and infuriated the President, but it did accurately reflect the average Dallas citizen’s distrust of the United Nations and the President.


It was also Ted Dealey who later approved the infamous “Black Border” ad that ran in the Dallas Morning News the morning of November 22, 1963, much to the horror of his son, and Morning News President, Joe Dealey, Sr. Ted Dealey explained to his son that many of the points in the “Black Border” ad reflected what the paper had been saying in its editorials (which Ted Dealey was in charge of, by the way) over the previous months.


In the 2 months prior to Kennedy’s visit, the Morning News ran an entire tirade of Editorials criticizing the President for his “Communistic tendencies”. The people of Dallas tended to agree with these views, and they probably influenced even the less outspoken, non-agreeing readers of these views.




IE150-1.GIF - 6031 BytesD in the Heart of Texas - Table of Contents
03LEFT.JPG - 1910 Bytes The ‘Right Wing’ Direction of Dallas - "City of Hate" Revisited (Part 2)
03RIGHT.JPG - 1880 Bytes The Pre-November ‘Hate’ Incidents


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Last edited June 3, 2003