The Death of FDR
and the Fourth Estate

“In London, Moscow, Paris and Rome, war-slimmed papers devoted columns to Mr. Roosevelt:”

“‘It’s impossible to believe that Mr. Churchill could have got a bigger play,’ cabled Newsweek‘s correspondent, Mary Palmer, from London… of the Paris press, only the communist ‘L’Humanité’ did not lead with the President’s death Friday morning. The Tribune jumped from two to four pages without permission; the next day the government doubled the paper allotment for everybody.”

“In Moscow, Mr. Roosevelt’s death shattered the newspaper tradition that all foreign news of whatever nature goes on the back pages. The story was played on front pages, together with a black-bordered picture of the President. In death, as in life, Mr. Roosevelt still was setting precedents.”

– from Amazon: Drunk Before Noon: The Behind-The-Scenes Story of the Washington Press Corps