John A. Johnson: An Uncommon American (review)

186CIVIL war history creation of their originators. But in the postbellum period, when newspapers evolved into large enterprises with large staffs, the editor emerged into a command position and became the fount of many new developments. It is an open question, for example, whether Pulitzer and Hearst deserve all the credit they are often given for fashioning the modern newspaper. Another point: Clayton is also correct in pointing out that Pulitzer owed much to McCuIlagh; he borrowed much of his journalistic formula from the Globe-Democrat in the early years. Indeed , McCullagh's paper was a fertile school of journalism, training a host of the best reporters and editors and thereby making St. Louis one of the nation's centers for newspaper growth between the 70s and '90s. In discussing these matters Professor Clayton's biography is excellent. But there are disappointing weaknesses. Too often one has the feeling he is reading an uncritical paean to an admittedly unusual man. Beyond that, now and then Clayton's research seems thin. For instance, for the early part of McCullagh's career the author depends largely on secondary material instead of examining himself the files of such papers as the Cincinnati Commercial and Cincinnati Enquirer. Clayton relies perhaps unduly on the many articles on McCuIlagh written by Walter Stevens, an uncritical if not worshipful admirer of the great editor. Stevens rarely saw beneath the surface. Above all, Professor Clayton does not deal with some quite fundamental matters. He should have examined more thoroughly the reasons why the Globe-Democrat had such wide circulation, especially in the hinterlands outside St. Louis. What kinds of news did the paper purvey? To what aspects of the American character did the paper appeal? Did the paper, as seems likely, play to the rural-small town mentality of Middle America? If so, how did it do it? And as to the editorial page, beyond such surface facts as that McCuIlagh was a partisan Republican and conservative on such issues as labor, we are told little. There is no systematic analysis of the Globe-Democrat to determine the segment of the community for whom the editorial page spoke. There is only the barest mention of such controversies as free silver and Populism, and nothing at all about social problems like race—an important concern on the middle border. Surely the key to much of the paper's success lay in the fact that it voiced some of the basic attitudes of its readers. Histories and biographies of journalism must deal with these important problems if they are to rise above surface recitals of events and personalities . Julian S. Rammelkamp Albion College John A. Johnson: An Uncommon American. By Agnes M. Larson. (Northfield, Minnesota: The Norwegian-American Historical Association , 1969. Pp. 312. $6.50. ) John Anders Johnson was an outstanding example of a rapidly assimi- book reviews187 lating immigrant in the nineteenth century. Born Jens Anderson (Jenson) Skibsnaes in Norway in 1832, he was brought by his parents to Wisconsin twelve years later. From the first Johnson displayed a determination to learn the language and customs of American society. By the age of eighteen he was a teacher in a public school. Entering politics, he was elected to a series of offices on the local level and, in 1856, he was elected as a Republican to the Wisconsin state legislature, representing a rural constituency with many Norwegian voters. Johnson withdrew from an active political career in 1869 after a term as a state senator from Madison and Dane County. A stout foe of slavery, Johnson was intensely interested in the Civil War and its outcome. Though not a soldier himself, Johnson relived the dramatic experiences of his younger brother, Ole, who was the lieutenant colonel of the Fifteenth Wisconsin regiment, largely Norwegian in composition. Business interests dominated Johnson's career after 1869. Although he became involved in a variety of commercial enterprises, including insurance, banking, and publishing, his major efforts were in the manufacturing of farm implements and machine tools in Madison, Wisconsin. He acquired a modest fortune which financed a variety of philanthropic endeavors, most relating to the Norwegian ethnic community. At the same time, he attained impressive...