James Barrett Reston

Scottish-born American journalist James Barrett Reston, known as Scotty and after 1939 associated with the New York Times, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945 and 1957 for his reporting.

His poor, devout Presbyterian family migrated to the United States in 1920. He sailed with his mother and sister to New York as steerage passengers on board the steamship Mobile, and authorities inspected them at Ellis Island on September 28, 1920. After working briefly for the Springfield, Ohio, Daily News, he joined the Associated Press in 1934. He moved to the London bureau of the but returned in 1940. In 1942, he took leave of absence to establish an office of war information of United States in London. Rejoining in 1945, Reston was assigned to District of Columbia as national correspondent. In 1948, he was appointed diplomatic correspondent, followed by bureau chief and columnist in 1953.

Reston married his wife Sally (born Sarah Jane Fulton) on December 24, 1935, after meeting her at the University of Illinois. He also was a member of Sigma Pi - Phi Chapter at Illinois. They had three sons; James Jr., a journalist, non-fiction writer and playwright; Thomas, formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for public affairs and the deputy spokesman for the State Department; and Richard, the publisher of the Vineyard Gazette, a newspaper on Martha's Vineyard.

In subsequent years, Reston served as associate editor of the Times from 1964 to 1968, executive editor from 1968 to 1969, and vice president from 1969 to 1974. He wrote a nationally syndicated column from 1974 until 1987, when he became a senior columnist. During the Nixon administration, he was on the master list of Nixon political opponents.

Reston retired from the Times in 1989.

Reston interviewed many of the world's leaders and wrote extensively about the leading events and issues of his time. He interviewed President John F. Kennedy immediately after the 1961 Vienna Summit with Nikita Khrushchev on the heels of the Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco.