14 Facts About Tom Wicker

Tom Wicker was best known as a political reporter and columnist for The New York Times for nearly three decades.

Thomas Grey Tom Wicker was born on June 18,1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina, to Delancey David, a railroad freight conductor, and Esta Cameron Tom Wicker.

Tom Wicker was a 1948 graduate of the University of North Carolina.

In 1957, Tom Wicker won a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.

Tom Wicker began his journalism career in 1949, first serving as editor of the small-town Sandhill Citizen in Aberdeen, North Carolina.

Tom Wicker eventually worked for other newspapers, including The Winston-Salem Journal and The Nashville Tennessean.

In September 1964, Tom Wicker was named Washington bureau chief for the Times upon the recommendation of his boss and mentor James Reston.

Tom Wicker was a shrewd observer of the Washington, DC scene.

Apple, Tom Wicker reflected on lessons he had learned during his years covering Washington.

Tom Wicker was asked whether he had any "heroes" in political life:.

Tom Wicker is the author of several about US presidents including:.

Tom Wicker later wrote an essay on Richard Nixon for the book Character Above All: Ten Presidents from FDR to George Bush.

Tom Wicker was mentioned in a 60 Minutes report from the 1970s which detailed how he, along with other journalists and members of Congress who publicly supported desegregation busing, had nevertheless sent their children to Washington, DC private schools.

Tom Wicker died from an apparent heart attack, on November 25,2011, at the age of 85.