Biography of seymour hersh london

For highlights from the latest issue, our archive and the blog, as well as news, events and exclusive promotions. Newsletter Preferences. Accept Close. Close Search. More search Options Search by contributor Browse our cover archive. Seymour M. Hersh Seymour M. From The Paper 5. Hersh, 24 January He also revealed US plans for strikes on Iran.

Hersh's reliance on anonymous sources has drawn criticism. Some have accused him of fabricating facts or misrepresenting information. However, Hersh maintains that he has never falsified evidence and occasionally alters details to protect sources. InHersh questioned the official narrative surrounding Osama bin Laden's assassination. He later disputed claims that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people, leading to widespread condemnation.

After briefly working at a Walgreens drug store, Hersh began his career in with a seven-month stint at the City News Bureau of Chicagofirst as a copyboy and later as a crime reporter. Stonewhose muckraking newsletter I. Stone's Weekly served as an inspiration. Hersh began to develop his investigative methods, often walking out of regimented press briefings at the Pentagon to interview high-ranking officers in their lunch halls.

InHersh became part of the AP's first special investigative unit. Hersh wrote six articles in national magazines in two for The New Republictwo for Rampartsand two for The New York Times Magazine in which he detailed the government's growing stockpiles of the weapons and its co-operation with universities and corporations, as well as the secret adoption of a first-use policy.

Army 's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah inadvertently killed more than 6, sheep owned by local ranchers. In the first three months ofHersh served as the press secretary for anti— Vietnam War candidate Senator Eugene McCarthy in his campaign in the Democratic Party presidential primaries. After resigning before the Wisconsin primary, he returned to journalism as a freelance reporter on Vietnam.

InHersh reported on the My Lai massacrethe murder of between and unarmed Vietnamese civilians almost all women, children, and elderly men by U. The initial information about the massacre was provided by whistleblower Ronald Ridenhourwho investigated while serving as a soldier in the United States 11th Infantry Brigade in Vietnam. On October 22,Hersh received a tip from Geoffrey Cowana columnist for The Village Voice with a military source, about a soldier being held at Fort Benning in Georgia for a court-martial for allegedly killing 75 civilians in South Vietnam.

He next found Calley's lawyer, George W. Latimerwho met with him in Salt Lake City, Utahand showed him a document which revealed Calley was charged with killing people. Hersh's first article on the massacre, a cautious and conservative piece which was approved with Latimer, was initially rejected by Life and Look magazines. Hersh next approached the anti-war Dispatch News Service run by his biography of seymour hersh london David Obstwhich sold the story to 35 national papers.

Initial reaction was muted, with the press focusing on a massive anti-war demonstration in Washington on November Follow-up articles by other reporters revealed that the Army's investigation had been prompted by a letter on March 29 from Ronald Ridenhour, a Vietnam veteran who had interviewed soldiers who knew of the killings. After traveling to California and visiting Ridenhour, who gave him their personal information, Hersh traveled across the country to interview the soldiers.

This revealed that eyewitnesses had been told not to talk to anyone, and that the actual death count was in the hundreds. On November 20, Dispatch syndicated Hersh's second article, which was internationally published. On the same biography of seymour hersh london, photos of the massacre by Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle were published in the Cleveland Plain Dealercausing outrage among members of Congress and the public.

Meadlo's mother told Hersh that she "sent them a good boy and they made him a murderer". Hersh's third article was syndicated by Dispatch on November 25, and that night an interview with Meadlo by Mike Wallace on the CBS News program 60 Minutes was broadcast on national television. Peers to head an official commission investigating it. His fourth article, syndicated on December 2, revealed random killings of civilians in the days before the massacre; a fifth article was published weeks later.

Ten pages of Haeberle's photos were printed in Life magazine on December 5. Hersh's reporting garnered him national fame, and encouraged the growing opposition to the war in the U. An op-ed column in the Times by James Reston asked: "Whatever happened in the massacre, should it be reported by press, radio and television, since clearly reporting the murder of civilians by American soldiers helps the enemy, divides the people of this country, and damages the ideal of America in the world?

Some will claim that I have attempted to exploit some dumb, out of service, overly talkative G. But few men are exposed to charges of murder In fact, one of the strengths is that discriminating readers will know how much more I know—and did not tell. I'm convinced that to give the name and hometown of a G. Something much more significant is being put to light.

Both the killer and the killed are victims in Vietnam; the peasant who is shot down for no reason and the G. On March 14,the Peers Commission submitted to the Army its secret report on the massacre, containing more than 20, pages of testimony from witnesses. One of Hersh's sources leaked the testimony to him over the course of a year; it revealed that at least civilians were killed, over twice as many as the Army had publicly conceded.

The leak formed the basis for two articles by Hersh for The New Yorker magazine inwhich alleged that officers had destroyed documents on the massacre, as well as his book Cover-Up: The Army's Secret Investigation of the Massacre at My Lai 4. Together with Walter RugaberHersh produced extensive reporting for the Times on the unfolding scandal; a key article by him published on January 14,revealed that hush money payments were still being made to the burglars, which shifted the press's focus from the break-in itself to its cover-up.

DuringHersh wrote more than 40 articles on Watergate, most printed on page one; his reveals included the FBI 's failure to investigate political operative Donald Segrettidespite knowing of his activities, and leaks from the grand jury testimonies of former Attorney General John Mitchell and burglar James McCordthe latter of which revealed that the Committee to Re-Elect the President had made the payments.

John DeanNixon's counsel, later said that while it had been the Post 's articles in that had encouraged prosecutors, "the most devastating pieces that strike awfully close to home" were Hersh's in and Hersh contributed to the revelations around Operation Menuthe secret U. Lavellewho had recently been relieved as commander of the Air Force in Southeast Asia, was ousted because he had ordered repeated, unauthorized bombings of North Vietnam.

Hersh learned of Knight's letter after exposing a different scandal on May 17,in which Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had authorized wiretaps of employees of the National Security Council after early bombings of Cambodia were exposed in the Times in May Hersh interviewed Knight and detailed the cover-up of Menu in an article on July 15,one day before the start of Knight's public testimony.

Schlesinger admitted that the Air Force had flown 3, raids over Cambodia in 14 months, dropping more thantons of bombs. Nixon's impeachment on this basis was proposed that day by Representative Robert Drinanand it was considered as an article alongside the Watergate cover-up during the House debate on Nixon's articles of impeachment in July In earlyHersh planned to publish a story on "Project Jennifer" later revealed to be codenamed Project Azoriana covert CIA operation that partially recovered the sunken Soviet submarine K from the floor of the Pacific Ocean with a purpose-built vessel, the Glomar Explorer.

The ship, which was falsely presented as a underwater mineral mining vessel, was built by a company owned by magnate Howard Hughes. After a discussion with CIA director William ColbyHersh promised not to publish the story while the operation was still active, in order to avoid triggering a potential international incident. The Times eventually published Hersh's article on March 19,with an added five-paragraph explanation of the publishing history and one-year delay.

Hersh followed up the story over the next two months, with 27 articles in total. On December 22,Hersh exposed Operation CHAOSa massive CIA program of domestic wiretapping and infiltration of anti-war groups during the Nixon administration, which was conducted in direct violation of the agency's charter. Hersh reported that dossiers had been compiled on at least 10, American citizens, including congressmen; the government eventually conceded the figure was closer toHe wrote 34 more articles on the story over the next months; they prompted the formation of the Rockefeller Commission and Church Committeewhich investigated covert CIA operations and led to reforms of the agency.

Rosenthal and President Gerald Fordin which the president mentioned CIA political assassinations —a comment which he subsequently asked to be struck from the record; the editors later agreed not to tell Hersh about the disclosure. Hersh thereafter decided to move away from reporting on the CIA. On May 25,Hersh revealed that the U. Navy was using submarines to collect intelligence inside the three-mile protected coastal zone of the Soviet Union in a spy program codenamed "Holystone", which had continued for at least 15 years.

Bush 's vice president, proposed that the FBI search the home of Hersh and his sources in order to halt his reporting on the subject. InHersh moved with his family to New York, where his wife was to attend medical school. He began working on larger projects; the first was a four-part investigation produced with Jeff Gerthinitially appearing on June 27,into the activities of Sidney Korshaka lawyer and " fixer " for the Chicago Mafiaunion leaders, and Hollywood.

Biography of seymour hersh london

The Times management was ambivalent about Hersh's new focus he later stated that the paper "wasn't nearly as happy when we went after business wrongdoing as when we were kicking around some slob in government"and he left the job in to start writing a book on Henry Kissinger. Hersh reported that the CIA had given the pair tacit approval to oversee the sale of American technology.

The story was followed up by Gerth at the Times throughprompting reforms at the agency. Hersh's book The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White Housewhich involved four years of exhaustive work and more than 1, interviews, was a best-seller and won him the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. The biography of seymour hersh london also alleges that Kissinger alerted Nixon to President Johnson 's October 31,bombing halt 12 hours in advance, securing his position in the administration.

The book is noted for its density of information and prosecutorial tone, [ 35 ] and it has been credited with preventing Kissinger from returning to a government position during the Reagan administration. While writing the book, Hersh revisited his previous reporting on Edward M. Korrythe U. Korry, who had reacted to the claim with furious denial, demanded a front-page retraction in exchange for documents Hersh wanted for his book.

The retraction, which Time called the "longest correction ever published", appeared on February 9, A Chicago jury ruled in favor of Hersh, finding it had not been proved that Hersh had intended to write falsehoods or that he had shown reckless disregard for the truth, either of which must be proven in a libel suit. In Augusta 17,word article by Hersh in The Atlantic magazine alleged that former President Gerald Fordwhom he interviewed in the story, had struck a secret deal prior to Nixon's resignationbrokered by Nixon's chief of staff General Alexander Haigwhich gave him the presidency in exchange for his subsequent pardon of Nixon.

The article was the first in a "political landslide" of allegations against Noriega; inthe U. Hersh spent much of the decade writing two critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful books. He reported that the U. Air Force knew almost immediately that the Soviets believed that they had shot down a military plane, and that the U.

Hersh also wrote that Israel received aid from the U. Another allegation was that British media magnate Robert Maxwell was an informant for MossadIsrael's national intelligence agency; Maxwell filed a defamation lawsuit against Hersh, but died in a drowning incident two weeks after the book was published. Kennedywas controversial and heavily criticized.

Shortly before publication, it emerged in the press that Hersh had removed claims at the last minute which were based on forged documents provided to him by fraudster Lex Cusackincluding a fake hush money contract between Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. An article about the controversy in The Washington Post said: "The strange and twisted saga of the JFK file is part cautionary tale, part slapstick farce, a story of deception and self-delusion in the service of commerce and journalism".

He estimated that 15 percent of returning American troops were afflicted with the chronic and multi-symptomatic disorder, and challenged the government claim that they were suffering from war fatigueas opposed to the effects of a chemical or biological weapon. He suggested the smoke from the destruction of a weapon depot that stored nerve gas at Khamisiyah in Iraq, to which more thansoldiers were exposed, as a possible cause.

A piece by him in alleged that Pakistan had developed nuclear weapons with the consent of the Reagan and Bush administrationsusing restricted, high-tech materials purchased in the U. He had received tips on the incident, which had been investigated and dismissed by the U. Army, from other officers while investigating McCaffrey's role in the Colombian drug war.

Hersh performed six months of research for the article, and interviewed people, including soldiers who had witnessed the killings; he alleged that McCaffrey had deceived his superiors and disregarded cease-fire orders. Following the September 11,terrorist attacksHersh turned his focus to U. In The New Yorkerhe reported on U. Hersh later reported on the government's flawed prosecution of Zacarias Moussaouion the U.

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