Editing Midge Decter

{{Short description|American journalist and author (1927–2022)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Midge Decter
| birth_name         = Midge Rosenthal
| birth_date         = {{birth date |1927|7|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age |2022|5|9|1927|7|25}}
| death_place        = New York City, U.S.
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Moshe Decter]]|1948|1954|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Norman Podhoretz]]|1956}}
}}
| children           = 4; including [[Rachel Abrams]], [[Ruthie Blum]] and [[John Podhoretz]]
| occupation         = Journalist, author, writer
}}
'''Midge Decter''' (née '''Rosenthal'''; July 25, 1927 – May 9, 2022) was an American journalist and author.<ref name="philadelphia">{{cite web|url=https://phillysoc.org/midge-decter/|title=Midge Decter|website=The [[Philadelphia Society]]|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref name="harper">{{cite web|url=https://www.harpercollins.com/authors/20922/Midge_Decter/index.aspx|title=Midge Decter|website=HarperCollins US|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref name="heritage">{{unfit|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100304025805/http://www.heritage.org/About/Departments/trustees.cfm Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/books/no-u-turns.html|title=No U-Turns|first=Dorothy|last=Gallagher|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 16, 2001|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20078621,00.html|title=Converts Podhoretz & Decter Didn't Get a Job from Reagan, but Don't Knock a Blurb|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref> Originally a liberal, she was one of the pioneers of the [[neoconservative]] movement in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Grinberg |first=Ronnie |date=2023 |title="The First Lady of Neoconservatism": Midge Decter and the Politics of Family Values |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jaad265 |journal=Journal of American History |volume=110 |issue=3 |pages=497–521|doi=10.1093/jahist/jaad265 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> She was a critic of feminism and the [[women's liberation movement]].<ref name=":0" />

==Early life==
Decter was born in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], on July 25, 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/decter-midge|title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Women: Midge Decter|first1=Kirsten |last1=Fermaglich |website= [[Jewish Women's Archive]] |date=June 23, 2021 |accessdate=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news|title=Midge Decter, an Architect of Neoconservatism, Dies at 94|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/books/midge-decter-dead.html|first=Douglas|last=Martin|date=May 9, 2022|access-date=May 10, 2022|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> She was the youngest of three daughters of Rose (née Calmenson) and Harry Rosenthal, a sporting goods merchant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hyman |first1=Paula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEj0oLYK10sC&dq=Midge+Rosenthal+Decter&pg=PA322 |title=Jewish Women in America: A-L |last2=Moore |first2=Deborah Dash |last3=Weisbard |first3=Phyllis Holman |last4=Society |first4=American Jewish Historical |date=January 1, 1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-91934-0 |via=Google Books |accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/currentbiogr198200mori|url-access=registration|quote=Midge Rosenthal Decter.|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=April 12, 1982|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|accessdate=April 12, 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Her family was middle-class and Jewish.<ref>{{cite book | last = Swain | first = Carol | title = Contemporary voices of white nationalism in America | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge, UK New York | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0521016933 | page = [https://archive.org/details/contemporaryvoic00swai/page/81 81] | url = https://archive.org/details/contemporaryvoic00swai/page/81 }} Note: this quote is from the authors' introductory essay, not from the interviews.</ref><ref name=":0" /> She attended the [[University of Minnesota]] for one year, the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]] from 1946 to 1948, and [[New York University]], but did not graduate from any of them.<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name="WP obit">{{cite news|title=Midge Decter, social critic and leader of neoconservative movement, dies at 94|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/neoconservative-leader-midge-decter-dead/2022/05/09/5fb61130-47fe-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html|first=Judi|last=Hasson|date=May 9, 2022|access-date=May 10, 2022|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>  She initially identified as a [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] on the [[political spectrum]].<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name=AP>{{cite news|title=Midge Decter, leading neo-conservative, dead at 94|url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-manhattan-race-and-ethnicity-gay-rights-919dd2694b88974a4cbc8756ef5bc6cf|first=Hillel|last=Italie|date=May 10, 2022|access-date=May 10, 2022|work= [[Associated Press]] {AP} }}</ref>

==Career==
Decter was assistant editor at ''[[Midstream (magazine)|Midstream]]'', before working as secretary to the then-editor of ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'', [[Robert Warshow]].<ref name="philadelphia"/> Later she was the executive editor of ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' under [[Willie Morris]].<ref name="philadelphia"/> She then began working in publishing as an editor at [[Basic Books]] and [[Legacy Books]].<ref name="philadelphia"/> Her writing has been published in ''Commentary'', ''[[First Things]]'', ''[[The Atlantic]]'', ''[[National Review]]'', ''[[The New Republic]]'', ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'', and ''[[The American Spectator]]''.<ref name="philadelphia"/><ref name="harper"/><ref>[http://spectator.org/people/midge-decter/all American Spectator webpage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127150751/http://spectator.org/people/midge-decter/all |date=November 27, 2011 }}</ref>

Together with [[Donald Rumsfeld]], Decter was the co-chair of the [[Committee for the Free World]], an anti-communist organization.<ref name=":0" /> She was one of the original champions of the [[neoconservative]] movement with her spouse, [[Norman Podhoretz]].<ref name="harper"/> She was also a founder of the [[Independent Women's Forum]], and was founding treasurer for the Northcote Parkinson Fund, founded and chaired by [[John Train (investment advisor)|John Train]]. She was a member of the board of trustees for [[The Heritage Foundation]].<ref name="heritage"/> She was also a board member of the [[Center for Security Policy]] and the [[Clare Boothe Luce]] Fund.<ref name="harper"/> A member of the [[Philadelphia Society]], she was, for a time, its president.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phillysoc.org/presiden.htm |title=Presidents of The Philadelphia Society |date=February 23, 2010 |accessdate=August 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223102538/http://phillysoc.org/presiden.htm |archivedate=February 23, 2010 }}</ref>

Decter was arguably the leading antifeminist in the United States prior to Phyllis Schlafly's rise to prominence.<ref name=":0" /> She was a critic of the women's liberation movement.<ref name=":0" /> She defended "traditional" gender roles and "family values."<ref name=":0" /> She was a critic of the [[LGBT rights in the United States|gay rights]] movement.<ref name=":0" /> 

Following a tongue-in-cheek remark by [[Russell Kirk]], the Society's founder, about the prevalence of Jewish intellectuals in the neoconservative movement, Decter labelled Kirk an [[Antisemitism|anti-Semite]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181205203135/https://www.weeklystandard.com/james-seaton/conservative-minder "Conservative Minder"] "The Weekly Standard" Retrieved April 15, 2019</ref> She was also a senior fellow at the [[Institute of Religion and Public Life]].<ref name="philadelphia"/> She was one of the signatories to Statement of Principles for the [[Project for the New American Century]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm |title=New American Century Statement of Principles |access-date=June 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205041635/http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2005 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Decter served on the national advisory board of [[Accuracy in Media]].<ref>{{Cite web | title = Frequently Asked Questions | url = http://www.aim.org/about/frequently-asked-questions-faq/ | work = [[Accuracy in Media]] | accessdate = June 10, 2012 | archive-date = September 12, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080912012950/http://www.aim.org/about/frequently-asked-questions-faq/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> 

In 2008, Midge Decter received the [[Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom]] from the [[Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/about/trmedalrecipients.php |title=Recipients of the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom |website=Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation |accessdate=September 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828165800/http://victimsofcommunism.org/about/trmedalrecipients.php |archivedate=August 28, 2012  }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Decter married her first husband, [[Moshe Decter]], in 1948.<ref name=AP/> Together, they had two children: Naomi and [[Rachel Abrams|Rachel]], who predeceased Decter in 2013.<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name="WP obit"/> They divorced in 1954.<ref name="NYT obit"/>  Two years later, she married [[Norman Podhoretz]], a neoconservative, who went on to become editor of ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'' magazine.<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name=":0" /> They remained married until her death. Together, they had two children: [[Ruthie Blum]] and [[John Podhoretz]].<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name="WP obit"/>

Decter lived most of her adult life in Manhattan.<ref name=":0" /> She died on May 9, 2022, at her home in [[Manhattan]]. She was 94 years old.<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name="WP obit"/>

==Publications==
{{external media| float = right| width=390px |video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?166458-1/an-wifes-tale ''Booknotes'' interview with Decter on ''An Old Wife's Tale'', October 7, 2001], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?173637-1/always-right-selected-writings Presentation by Decter on ''Always Right'', November 1, 2002], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?173637-1/always-right-selected-writings Presentation by Decter on ''Rumsfeld'', October 14, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?181497-2/rumsfeld-personal-portrait ''Washington Journal'' interview with Decter on ''Rumsfeld'', April 23, 2004], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
* ''Losing the First Battle, Winning the War''<ref>{{cite book|title=Losing the First Battle, Winning the War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMSBNwAACAAJ|publisher=Heritage Foundation|year=2000|last=Decter|first=Midge|isbn=}}</ref>
* ''The Liberated Woman and Other Americans'' (1970)<ref>{{cite book|title=The Liberated Woman and Other Americans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xksqAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Coward, McCann & Geoghegan|year=1971|last=Decter|first=Midge|isbn=}}</ref>
* ''The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women's Liberation'' (1972) {{ISBN|978-0-698-10450-1}}
* ''Liberal Parents, Radical Children'' (1975) {{ISBN|978-0-698-10675-8}}
* ''An Old Wife's Tale: My Seven Decades in Love and War'' (2001) {{ISBN|978-0-06-039428-8}}
* ''Always Right: Selected Writings of Midge Decter'' (2002) {{ISBN|978-0-89195-108-7}}
* ''Rumsfeld : A Personal Portrait'' (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-06-056091-1}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{C-SPAN|896}}

{{New York Intellectuals}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decter, Midge}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:The Heritage Foundation people]]
[[Category:Jewish American journalists]]
[[Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota]]
[[Category:New York University alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]
[[Category:National Humanities Medal recipients]]
[[Category:The American Spectator people]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:American women journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish women writers]]
[[Category:Neoconservatism]]