DeWitt John was born in
Safford, Arizona to Franklin Howard John and Frances DeWitt John; and graduated from
Principia College in 1936 before receiving graduate degrees in political science from the
University of Chicago in 1937 and in journalism from
Columbia University in 1938. John began his career in journalism as a reporter for the
St. Petersburg Times in Florida; and in 1939, was hired on by
Roscoe Drummond as a political reporter for
The Christian Science Monitor. A few years into his career, John uncovered corruption relating to
James Michael Curley's
1941 mayoral campaign, helping lead to Curley's defeat to
Maurice J. Tobin, for which
Monitor editor
Erwin Canham dubbed him the "kingmaker." At the beginning of
World War II, John took a leave of absence to join the
United States Navy, during which he was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal for his service. He developed an interest in international reporting during this time, and upon returning to the
Monitor was sent to Europe by Charles Gratke, the
Monitors foreign editor, to cover aftermath of the war. John succeeded Canham as editor of the
Monitor in 1964, and served in that position until 1970. Immediately upon taking over, he had the paper redesigned for readability and gave across-the-board raises to the entire
Monitor staff, as well as having reporters give more of their time to focus on investigative reporting. During his tenure as
Monitor editor, the paper won three Pulitzer Prizes: for a series about the
Indonesian people's
overthrow of President
Sukarno (
1967), on a crisis in the
American judicial system (
1968), and on saving the
national parks system in America (
1969). John also served as editor of
The Christian Science Journal,
Christian Science Sentinel and
The Herald of Christian Science for three years, manager of the committee on publication, and was a member of the church's Board of Directors from 1970 to 1980, as well as holding various other positions in the church including
practitioner and
teacher. He died October 22, 1985.
Katherine W. Fanning, who also served as editor of the
Monitor, said of him that "[a]ny editor of this newspaper carries a special responsibility to its mission - to benefit mankind," and that "DeWitt John was an outstanding example of these special qualities for subsequent editors." Robert C. Nelson, the paper's national news editor under John, wrote: "His was a generous spirit that inspired a great many lives." ==Selected published works==