22 Facts About James Reston

1.

James Reston was associated for many years with The New York Times.

2.

James Reston sailed with his mother and sister to New York as steerage passengers on board the SS Mobile, and they were inspected at Ellis Island on September 28,1920.

3.

The family settled in the Dayton, Ohio, area, and James Reston graduated from Oakwood High School.

4.

James Reston was Ohio Public Links champion in 1931, and in 1932 was a member of the University of Illinois' Big Ten championship team.

5.

James Reston moved to the London bureau of The New York Times in 1939, but returned to New York in 1940.

6.

In subsequent years, James 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.

7.

James Reston wrote a nationally syndicated column from 1974 until 1987, when he became a senior columnist.

8.

James Reston was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1980.

9.

James Reston interviewed many of the world's leaders and wrote extensively about the leading events and issues of his time.

10.

James Reston interviewed President John F Kennedy immediately after the 1961 Vienna summit with Nikita Khrushchev on the heels of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

11.

James Reston was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity's Phi Chapter at Illinois.

12.

James Reston received the second award in 1957 for his national correspondence, especially "his five-part analysis of the effect of President Eisenhower's illness on the functioning of the executive branch of the federal government".

13.

James Reston received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986 and the Four Freedoms Award in 1991.

14.

James Reston was awarded the chevalier of the Legion d'honneur from France, the Order of St Olav from Norway, Order of Merit from Chile, the Order of Leopold from Belgium, and honorary degrees from 28 universities.

15.

James Reston had a particularly close relationship with Henry Kissinger and became one of his stalwart supporters in the media.

16.

James Reston did a story on December 13,1972, based on his talks with Kissinger citing obstruction by Saigon, which was true.

17.

Kissinger now tried to distance himself from it and James Reston was taken in by his claims.

18.

James Reston had spiked the Pentagon reporter's story because it conflicted with his perceptions.

19.

James Reston misled Reston about his own position and then misled the White House staff about these conversations, finally admitting the truth when confronted with his phone records.

20.

James Reston displayed his affinity for the powerful when Edward Kennedy drove his car off the bridge at Chappaquiddick Island, resulting in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

21.

James Reston wrote for the Times that in July 1971, he suffered appendicitis while visiting China with his wife.

22.

James Reston is played by Kenneth Welsh in the TV movie Kissinger and Nixon.