25 Facts About Marty Peretz

Martin H Peretz is an American former magazine publisher and Harvard University assistant professor.

Marty Peretz received his Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University in 1959, and a Master of Arts and PhD from Harvard University in Government.

In 1974, Marty Peretz purchased The New Republic from Gilbert Harrison for $380,000, which his wife supplied.

Marty Peretz pledged to let him continue running the magazine for at least three years.

Marty Peretz then named himself the magazine's new editor, serving in that post until 1979.

Over time, Marty Peretz purged the magazine of other progressive editors and writers as the magazine underwent a dramatic ideological transformation.

In 1997, Marty Peretz fired Michael Kelly as the editor of The New Republic after Kelly refused to publish a ghostwritten, unsigned editorial defending Marty Peretz's former student and friend Al Gore, who was then vice president and likely to run for president when Bill Clinton's term was over.

Marty Peretz was a major behind-the-scenes benefactor of Eugene McCarthy's primary presidential bid in 1968.

Marty Peretz supported Senator Barack Obama in both his Democratic primary race and in the 2008 general election, but in 2012 wrote that he hoped that "maybe Barack Obama will be a one-term president" and that a prominent alternative candidate would run against him in the Democratic primary.

Marty Peretz is further known for his support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Marty Peretz retained majority ownership of The New Republic until 2002, when he sold a two-thirds stake in the magazine to two financiers.

In 2007, Marty Peretz sold the remainder of his ownership rights to CanWest Global Communications, but remained editor-in-chief.

In 2009, Marty Peretz repurchased the magazine with a group of investors led by ex-Lazard executive Laurence Grafstein.

In late 2010, Marty Peretz gave up his title of editor-in-chief at The New Republic, becoming instead editor emeritus, and terminated his blog The Spine after other editors and writers at the magazine said they found it offensive and that Marty Peretz would never have had the opportunity to write it if he had not been the magazine's owner.

Marty Peretz has written that "'Arab society' is 'hidebound and backward' [and] [t]hat the Druze are 'congenitally untrustworthy'".

On September 4,2010, Marty Peretz drew media attention and controversy when he posted an editorial which concluded:.

The Atlantic's James Fallows summarized Marty Peretz's reputation, concluding that if his legacy were settled that day, despite being "beloved by many students and respected by some magazine colleagues", he would be considered a bigot.

Marty Peretz was a lightweight sociology professor of no special talent or accomplishment who owned and edited the magazine The New World because his wife was a shoe company heiress who bought it for him.

Marty Peretz was a joke in all circles except those that believed money was important.

Marty Peretz is portrayed in Stephen Glass's 2003 novel The Fabulist and by Ted Kotcheff in the 2003 film Shattered Glass, based on the Glass controversy.

Marty Peretz was married briefly in his twenties to Linda Heller, the daughter of prominent citrus growers who lived on Fifth Avenue, and in Miami Beach, Florida.

From 1967 to 2009, Marty Peretz was married to Anne Devereux Farnsworth Marty Peretz, daughter of Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr.

Marty Peretz is a longtime friend, former teacher, and political supporter of former Vice President Al Gore.

Marty Peretz has seven honorary doctorates: the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Bard College, Coe College, Long Island University, Brandeis University, Hebrew College, Chicago Theological Seminary, and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Marty Peretz has been a member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Board of Advisors.