Drew Pearson

Andrew Russell Pearson, known professionally as Drew Pearson, and born in Evanston, Illinois, was one of the most well-known American journalists of his day. He was best known for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column “Washington Merry-Go-Round,” in which he attacked various public persons with little or no objective proof for his allegations. He also had a program on NBC Radio entitled Drew Pearson Comments.

His parents were Paul Martin Pearson, an English professor at Northwestern University, and Edna Wolfe. When Pearson was six years of age, his father joined the faculty of Swarthmore College as Professor of Public Speaking, and the family moved to Pennsylvania, joining the Society of Friends, with which the college was then affiliated. After being educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Pearson attended Swarthmore, where he edited its student newspaper, The Phoenix.

From 1919 to 1921, Pearson served with the American Friends Service Committee, directing post-war rebuilding operations in Pe?, which at that time was part of Serbia. From 1921 to 1922, he lectured in Geography at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1923, Pearson travelled to Japan, China, New Zealand, Australia, India and Serbia, and persuaded several newspapers to buy articles about his travels. He was also commissioned by the American “Around the World Syndicate” to produce a set of interviews entitled, “Europe’s Twelve Greatest Men.”