Frank Mankiewicz, 90, Press Aide to Robert Kennedy and NPR Chief, Dies

[Douglas Carpenter]

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Source: New York Times


Frank Mankiewicz, left, and Gary Hart when they were both working on George S. McGovern’s 1972 election campaign. Credit George Tames/The New York Times

Frank Mankiewicz, a writer and Democratic political strategist who was Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s press secretary, directed Senator George S. McGovern’s losing 1972 presidential campaign and for six years was the president of National Public Radio, died on Thursday in Washington. He was 90.

The cause was heart failure, said Adam Clymer, a family spokesman, who is a former reporter for The New York Times. Mr.
A scion of Hollywood, the son of Herman J. Mankiewicz, who wrote “Citizen Kane,” and the nephew of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who directed “All About Eve,” Mr. Mankiewicz grew up with an Algonquin West round table in his Beverly Hills home, regaled by movie stars and famous writers.

He became a journalist and lawyer and, inspired by the Kennedys, went to Washington at the dawn of the New Frontier and took an executive position at the Peace Corps, full of idealistic hopes. What he encountered were assassinations, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandals.

Frank Fabian Mankiewicz was born in Manhattan on May 16, 1924, one of three children of Herman and Sara Aaronson Mankiewicz. His father, early on a drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker, began his celebrated Hollywood career in 1926. The household was awhirl with the famous: Regulars included F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, the Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, James Thurber, Margaret Sullavan, Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/us/politics/frank-mankiewicz-press-secretary-to-robert-f-kennedy-dies-at-90.html?_r=0

[radiclib]

1. He was one of the really good ones.

I just recently learned he was the father of Ben, of TYT.
A nice tribute from Cenk--

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[Overseas]

3. K&R.

[DFW]

2. My dad worked with him intensively for years

He was indeed one of the good ones.

When Bobby Sr. was in the Senate, Frank was the one who was usually there at Bobby's Senate office who usually met us (well, my dad: I was along for the ride). As my dad's paper was in upstate New York, he had to be in constant touch with NY's Senators and congressmen/women.

A generation that was in it for the cause and not for glory or money is fast fading. A few grew up to take their place, but cynicism and bitterness are fast taking over.

[Overseas]

4. K&R.

[Overseas]

5. K&R. Our condolences to his friends and family. And our thanks for his life's work.

[Mister Nightowl]

6. Duplicate thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014926517

[In_The_Wind]

7. Locking Duplicate Thread