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World of 1898: International Perspectives on the Spanish American War

Whitelaw Reid

Exciting experiences in our wars with Spain, and the Filipinos, p. 247. Download an uncompressed TIFF (.tif) version of this image.

1837-1912

A native of Ohio, Whitelaw Reid graduated from Miami University of Ohio with honors in 1856. He became a newspaper reporter during the Civil War and formed a friendship with Horace Greeley who hired him to write from the Washington Tribune. By 1869 he was its managing editor and he improve his position still further by marrying the daughter of Darius Ogden Mills, a California millionaire. In 1892 he ran as the Vice Presidential candidate with Benjamin Harrison. He soon supported fellow Ohioan William McKinley and gave him a ringing endorsement in the Tribune. Although Reid wanted to receive an ambassadorship, McKinley ultimately rewarded him with membership on the Peace Commission for the Spanish-American War.