Editing Harry Reasoner

{{Short description|American journalist (1923–1991)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Harry Reasoner
| image              = Harry Reasoner - Publicity Photo ABC News Correspondent.JPG
| alt                = 1974 photo
| caption            = Harry Reasoner, 1974
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1923|04|17}}
| birth_place        = [[Dakota City, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1991|08|06|1923|04|17}}
| death_place        = [[Westport, Connecticut]], US
| education          = [[Stanford University]]<br>[[University of Minnesota]]
| occupation         = Journalist
| years_active       = 1946–1991
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Kathleen Carroll Reasoner|1946|1986|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Lois Harriett Weber|1988|1991}}
}}
| domesticpartner    = 
| children           = 7
}}

'''Harry Reasoner''' (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for [[CBS]] and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[ABC News (United States)|News]], known for his adroit use of language as a [[television]] commentator and as one of the original hosts of the news magazine ''[[60 Minutes]]'' (1968–1970, 1978–1991).

Over the course of his career, Reasoner won three [[Emmy Awards]] and a [[George Foster Peabody Award]] in 1967.

==Early life==
Reasoner was born on First Street North in [[Dakota City, Iowa|Dakota City]], [[Iowa]]; he and his older sister, Esther, were the children of Eunice (Nicholl) and Harry Ray Reasoner, who married in 1911.{{sfn|Daniel|2007|p=2}} Harry Reasoner was taught to read by his parents before entering school, gaining a broad vocabulary from his mother.{{sfn|Daniel|2007|p=5-8}}

Reasoner attended [[West High School (Minneapolis, Minnesota)|West High School]] in [[Minneapolis]], where he developed an interest in journalism. He authored a story titled "The Wench of the Week," which garnered the attention of the principal, who expelled Reasoner, but later let him return following a plea from a fellow student. Reasoner graduated in January 1940, having missed the 1939 class graduation ceremony. He studied [[journalism]] at [[Stanford University]] and the [[University of Minnesota]], receiving a journalism degree from the latter's [[University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication|School of Journalism]] in 1989 at the age of 66.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Reasoner bio |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-reasoner/ |website=CBS News |date=20 August 2012 |access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|Daniel|2007|p=17-18}} Reasoner served in the [[United States Army|Army]] during [[World War II]] and after the war, he resumed his journalism career with ''[[The Minneapolis Times]]''. His novel ''Tell Me About Women'', about a fading marriage, was written partly during his war service and was first published in 1946.

==Journalism==
[[File:January 1955 - Harry Reasoner, American Journalist - News Service Photograph.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Reasoner as an employee of the [[United States Information Agency]]]]
After beginning to work in radio with [[CBS]] in 1948, Reasoner worked for the [[United States Information Agency]] in the [[Philippines]]. When he returned to the US, he transitioned into working in television while at station KEYD (later [[KMSP-TV|KMSP]]) in [[Minneapolis]]. He ran for city council in Minneapolis as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in 1949 receiving 381 votes (4.4 percent).<ref>Minneapolis Tribune, May 5, 1949; Council Proceedings, Minneapolis, 1949, official statement of primary election results.</ref> In 1956, Reasoner joined [[CBS News]] in [[New York City|New York]]. There in addition to commentator and special news narration duties, he eventually hosted a morning news program, ''[[Calendar (American TV series)|Calendar]],'' from 1961 to 1963.

===JFK assassination===
Reasoner took part in covering the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy assassination]] on Friday, November 22, 1963. [[Walter Cronkite]] and [[Charles Collingwood (journalist)|Charles Collingwood]] had been switching back and forth to report on the incident for about four hours after Cronkite broke the news at 1:40&nbsp;p.m. EST. Reasoner took over the anchor chair after Collingwood tossed it to him at 5:49&nbsp;p.m. EST and opened with the repeat of an announcement by [[Frank Stanton (executive)|Frank Stanton]], the president of CBS, which had already been relayed by Collingwood:

{{blockquote|Thank you, Charles. As you know, CBS has announced that there will be no commercial announcements and no entertainment programming until [[State funeral of John F. Kennedy|President Kennedy's funeral]].}}

He later reported on the arrival of [[President Kennedy]]'s body in [[Washington, D.C.]], and provided details regarding [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who was then accused only of killing [[Dallas]] Police Officer [[J. D. Tippit]]; Oswald would be accused of killing the president only hours later. Reasoner left the desk when Cronkite returned to anchor ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' at 6:35&nbsp;p.m. EST. He reappeared in another studio, approximately two hours later, to narrate a special program called ''John F. Kennedy—A Man of This Century''; he talked about Kennedy's career and the new president, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], and announced the conclusion of CBS's coverage for that day. (Reasoner also anchored the final coverage of the next day, with a CBS News special, titled ''A Day to Mourn''.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newcanaanlibrary.org/research/salant_room/Salant%20Documents%20Adobe/Salant%20-%20Kennedy%20Assassination%20-%20Acid%20Free.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-03-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814032445/http://newcanaanlibrary.org/research/salant_room/Salant%20Documents%20Adobe/Salant%20-%20Kennedy%20Assassination%20-%20Acid%20Free.pdf |archive-date=2010-08-14 }}</ref>

Reasoner's next appearance came on Sunday, two days later, and as Reasoner was at the anchor desk, Oswald was shot by [[Jack Ruby]] while he was being moved in the Dallas City Jail. At that very moment, [[Roger Mudd]] was filing a report from Washington which described the President's funeral arrangements:

{{blockquote|Tomorrow there will be a final hour for the public to pay their final respects to the President before the President leaves Capitol Hill for the last time. The last soldier, milit—}}

At that moment, CBS abruptly cut back to Reasoner at the newsroom anchor desk with breaking news:

{{blockquote|We are now switching to Dallas where they're about to move Lee Oswald, and where there's a scuffle in the police station.}}

When CBS picked up [[KDFW|KRLD]]'s live feed of the city jail basement, Oswald was lying on the floor, and Dallas Police were apprehending Ruby. KRLD's reporter on the scene, Bob Huffaker, was heard to say, "Oswald has been shot, Oswald has been shot." After the ambulance carrying Oswald sped out of the jail en route to [[Parkland Hospital]], KRLD switched back to CBS in New York, where Reasoner replayed the tape from the beginning so that viewers could see Ruby shooting Oswald. Several minutes later, he reported that the Dallas Police had released Ruby's name. (Oswald's death was later announced by Cronkite, who replaced Reasoner at the anchor desk.)

===''60 Minutes''===
[[File:60 minutes 1968.JPG|thumb|150px|Reasoner and [[Mike Wallace]] on the ''60 Minutes'' premiere, 1968]]
In 1968, Reasoner teamed up with [[Mike Wallace]] to launch ''[[60 Minutes]]'', a new [[newsmagazine]] series. On ''60 Minutes'' and elsewhere, he often worked with producer and writer [[Andy Rooney]], who later became a well-known contributor. In a farewell interview on ''60 Minutes'' in 2011, Rooney said Reasoner was a great writer in his own right but was lazy, which gave Rooney more opportunities to show his writing skills. Rooney and interviewer Morley Safer agreed that Reasoner enjoyed drinking and was "one of the most companionable fellows" they had ever known.

===To ABC and back===
[[File:1976 ABC News Anchors Harry Reasoner, Barbara Walters, Howard K. Smith - Press Photo for the 1976 Presidental, Congressional and Gubernational elections.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Reasoner with fellow ABC News anchors [[Barbara Walters]] and [[Howard K. Smith]] in 1976]]
In November 1970, Reasoner was hired away from CBS by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to become an anchor on the network's evening newscast. Prior to his hire, the network's New York-based broadcast, ''[[ABC World News|ABC Evening News]]'', was anchored by [[Howard K. Smith]] and [[Frank Reynolds]], and in December 1970, Reasoner was moved into Reynolds's position (and Reynolds became the network's chief Washington correspondent).<ref name=nytimesobituary>{{cite web|last=Severo|first=Richard|title=Harry Reasoner, 68, Newscaster Known for His Wry Wit, Is Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/07/obituaries/harry-reasoner-68-newscaster-known-for-his-wry-wit-is-dead.html|publisher=[[The New York Times]] ([[The New York Times Company]])|date=August 7, 1991|access-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>

Reasoner anchored the news alongside Smith until 1975, when he took the sole anchor position while Smith moved into a commentary role. The next year, however, ABC paired Reasoner with a new co-anchor, former ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]'' co-host [[Barbara Walters]]; ABC had gone to great lengths to hire her away from NBC. Walters and Reasoner did not enjoy a close relationship; Reasoner did not like sharing the spotlight with a co-anchor and also was uncomfortable with Walters's celebrity status.<ref>{{cite news|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jerry|title=A look at TV's first lady|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19900514&id=XcYaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6394,6684838|newspaper=[[The Milwaukee Journal]] ([[Journal Communications]])|date=May 14, 1990}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Many also believed that Reasoner disliked the idea of a woman anchoring the network news; one woman at ABC told a reporter that he was a "male chauvinist pig."<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Walters|first=Barbara|date=June 2008|title=Ms. Walters Reflects|magazine=Vanity Fair|url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2008/6/ms-walters-reflects|access-date=August 16, 2020}}</ref> He had a history of antifeminist editorializing on air. For example, on the December 21, 1971 newscast, he compared the newly launched feminist ''Ms.'' magazine to tabloid journalism and pornography, claiming that although the "girls" composing it were prettier than other "shock" publishers, their work had no value.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Douglas|first=Susan J.|title=Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media|publisher=Times Books|year=1994|isbn=0812922069|location=New York|pages=194–95}}</ref>

Disclaiming gender bias against Barbara Walters, however, Reasoner said he was "trying to keep an open mind about it." In another interview, Reasoner said, "I've worked in journalism for women and with women for years. For two years I did a CBS morning news program with a woman. I feel they're no worse than men are."

After two years of co-anchoring ''ABC Evening News'' with Walters, Reasoner departed the network after nearly eight years in July 1978 and returned to CBS that fall, where he resumed his duties on ''60 Minutes''. Shortly after his departure ABC scrapped ''ABC Evening News'' altogether and reworked the newscast into ''[[ABC World News|World News Tonight]]''.

Reasoner stayed with ''60 Minutes'' until his retirement, on May 19, 1991.<ref name=nytimesobituary />

==Personal life==
Reasoner was married twice, first to Kathleen Carroll Reasoner for 35 years until her death in 1986, and then to insurance executive Lois Harriett Weber in 1988. He had seven children by his first marriage: Harry Stuart, Ann, Elizabeth, Jane, Mary Ray, Ellen, and Jonathan. He had six grandchildren: Leslie, Ryan, Samantha, Christian, Ian, and John. Harry Reasoner had two operations for lung cancer, in 1987 and 1989.<ref>{{cite web|last=Goodman|first=Mark|title=Good Night, Harry|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20115725,00.html|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]] ([[Time Inc.]])|date=August 19, 1991|access-date=April 8, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408213530/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20115725,00.html|archive-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>

==Death==
Reasoner died within three months of his retirement in 1991 from a [[Aneurysm|blood clot]] in the [[brain]], resulting from a [[Falling (accident)|fall]] at his home in [[Westport, Connecticut]]. He is interred at Union Cemetery in [[Humboldt, Iowa]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Reasoner|first=Harry|title=Tell Me About Women (A novel)|year=1946|publisher=A. S. Barnes & Company Inc.}}
* {{cite book|last=Reasoner|first=Harry|title=The Reasoner Report|year=1966|publisher=Doubleday & Company Inc.|url=https://archive.org/details/reasonerreport00reas}}
* {{cite book|last=Reasoner|first=Harry|title=Before the Colors Fade|year=1981|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=9780394504803|url=https://archive.org/details/beforecolorsfade0000reas}} (Autobiography)
* {{cite book|last=Daniel|first=Douglass K.|title=Harry Reasoner: A Life in the News|year=2007|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=[[Austin, Texas]]|isbn=9780292782365}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links}}
* {{IMDb name|0714159|Harry Reasoner}}
* {{Find a Grave|5107|Harry Reasoner}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-media}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Howard K. Smith]] and [[Frank Reynolds]]<br>As ''[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]''}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[ABC Evening News]] anchor|years=1970 – 1978<br><small>with [[Howard K. Smith]] 1970 – 1976<br>with [[Barbara Walters]] 1976 – 1978</small>}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Frank Reynolds]], [[Max Robinson]], and [[Peter Jennings]]<br>as ''World News Tonight''}}
{{s-end}}
{{60 Minutes}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reasoner, Harry}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Deaths from thrombosis]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American television news anchors]]
[[Category:Peabody Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Humboldt County, Iowa]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Minneapolis]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni]]
[[Category:CBS News people]]