The sensational flair of Jack Anderson’s frequently shocking revelations belied a patient and methodical process of research and verification of facts, using a network of informants and sources cultivated for dozens of years. The method netted Anderson several career-defining scoops.
Senator Thomas Dodd, 1966: The Connecticut Senator was the subject of a tenacious, yearlong series of exposés by Anderson that detailed the Senator's misuse of campaign funds for personal expenses. After Anderson's 120 columns on Dodd sparked public outrage, the Senator was officially censured by Congress in 1967.
Castro, the CIA and the Mob, 1967: Anderson had been following the link between Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the CIA’s undocumented plans to employ American Mafia to assassinate him since 1963. For the next several years, Anderson’s columns revisited the topic, chronicling his dissatisfaction with the story’s unresolved nature, and its link to the assassination of President Kennedy.
ITT Scandal, 1972: In March, Anderson reported the link between the Justice Department's settlement of an antitrust suit against International Telephone and Telegraph and the corporation's $400,000 pledge to underwrite the 1972 Republican National Convention. Anderson later charged the corporation with plotting with CIA to prevent Chile's Marxist candidate from assuming the presidency.
Iran-Contra Affair, 1987: Anderson's team had solid information concerning The Reagan administration's efforts to sell arms to Iran, trading them for hostages and illegally funneling proceeds to anti-Communist forces (Contras) in Nicaragua. However, at Ronald Reagan's prompting, Anderson sat on the story to ensure the safety of American lives overseas.
Anderson was awarded the 1972 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for his reporting of the Nixon administration's material and political support of Pakistan during Bangladesh's 1971 war for independence. Pulitzer trustees were not unanimous in praise of Anderson (with several citing Anderson's frequently unorthodox methods of gathering source materials), but the impact of his reporting was undeniable. The honor validated Anderson's methods, and cemented his prominent role in American journalism.
