Harry Frank Guggenheim - Newsday

Newsday

Guggenheim, with his third wife, Alicia Patterson, established Newsday in 1940. Guggenheim was President of the company, while his wife was editor and publisher until her death in 1963, then he assumed those duties until 1967. Under Guggenheim's guidance, the circulation of Newsday reached 450,000 and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1954.

In 1967, he turned over the publisher position to Bill Moyers and continued as president and editor-in-chief. But Guggenheim was disappointed by the liberal drift of the newspaper under Moyers, criticizing the "left-wing" coverage of Vietnam War protests. The two split over the 1968 presidential election, with Guggenheim signing an editorial supporting Richard Nixon, when Moyers supported Hubert Humphrey. Guggenheim sold his majority share to the then-conservative Times-Mirror Company over the attempt of newspaper employees to block the sale, even though Moyers offered $10 million more than the Times-Mirror purchase price; Moyers resigned a few days later. Guggenheim, who died a year later, disinherited Moyers from his will.