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{{Short description|American journalist and presidential speechwriter (1929–2009)}}
'''William L. Safire''' (born ], ]) is an author, semi-retired columnist, and former ] and ] ]. He is perhaps best known as a long-time ] political columnist for '']'' and a regular contributor to "On Language" in the '']'', a column on ], ], new or unusual usages, and other ]-related topics.
{{More footnotes|date=October 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
| birth_name = William Lewis Safir
| image = President Bush presents William Safire the 2006 President Medal of Freedom (cropped).jpg
| caption = Safire receiving the ] in 2006
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|12|17}}
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|09|27|1929|12|17}}
| death_place = ], U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Author|]|]|journalist|political speechwriter}}
| period =
| genre = Non-fiction
| subject = Politics
| spouse = Helene Belmar Julius
| children = 2
}}


'''William Lewis Safire''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|æ|f|aɪər}}; {{né}} '''Safir'''; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009<ref name="McFadden">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/us/28safire.html?_r=1&hp|title=William Safire, Nixon Speechwriter and Times Columnist, Is Dead at 79|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=September 27, 2009|website=]|access-date=September 27, 2009}}</ref><ref name="safire1986">Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8129-1323-1}}. p. 185.</ref>) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential ]. He was a long-time ] political columnist for '']'' and wrote the "On Language" column in '']'' about popular ], new or unusual usages, and other ]-related topics.
His family name was Safir (William added the "e"), and he is an ] ]. He received the ] of ] in 2005.


==Early life and education==
Safire attended ], but dropped out after having attended only two years. Safire was to later deliver a commencement address there, and became a trustee of the university. Safire is a graduate of the ], an elite public school in New York City.
Safire was born William Lewis Safir in ], the son of Ida ({{née}} Panish) and Oliver Craus Safir.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/william-safire/ |title=William Safire Biography |publisher=BookRags.com |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/print/2008/08/01/no-bull-bill.php |title=No Bull Bill – People & Politics |publisher=Washingtonian |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> His family was Jewish and of Romanian origin on his father's side.<ref name="note">{{cite book|last=Safire|first=William|title=On language|publisher=Avon Books|year=1981|page=236|isbn=0-380-56457-2}}</ref> Safire later added the "e" to his surname for pronunciation reasons, although some of his relatives continued to use the original spelling.<ref name="LeosObit">{{cite news |title=Leonard Safir, 71, Early TV Producer And an Anthologist |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/12/14/773892.html?pageNumber=26 |access-date=14 January 2022 |work=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}</ref>


Safire graduated from the ], a ] in New York City. He attended ] at ] but dropped out after two years. He delivered the commencement address at Syracuse in 1978 and 1990, and later became a trustee of the university.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmuckler |first1=Carol |title=The Bond of a Lifetime |journal=Syracuse University Magazine |date=April 1, 1995 |volume=11 |issue=3 |page=40 |url=https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol11/iss3/8/ |access-date=February 23, 2021}}</ref>
Before he became a journalist, Safire was a speechwriter for ] and ]; he wrote Agnew's phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism." From ] to ], he was a ] executive. Previously he had been a ] and ] and a ] ].


==Career==
In 1978, he won the ] for ] on ]'s alleged budgetary irregularities. However, subsequent investigations by ] could find no wrong doing.
] to be used in the event that ] ended in disaster.]]


After dropping out of Syracuse, Safire worked with ] throughout the 1950s, first as a ] and later a ] associate.<ref> Retrieved December 13, 2024.</ref> He worked as a publicist for a homebuilder who exhibited a model home at an American ] at ] in Moscow in 1959—the one in which ] and ] had their ]. A much circulated ] photograph of the event was taken by Safire.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/opinion/24safire.html?_r=1 |title=Safire, William. "The Cold War's Hot Kitchen," ''The New York Times'', Friday, July 24, 2009 |website=The New York Times |date=July 24, 2009 |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> Safire joined Nixon's campaign for the ], and again in ]. After Nixon's 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and for ]; he is known for having created Agnew's famous ] term, "nattering nabobs of negativism".
Upon announcing Safire's retirement as a political columnist ], publisher of '']'' stated:


{{wikisource|In Event of Moon Disaster}}
:''The New York Times'' without Bill Safire is all but unimaginable, Bill's provocative and insightful commentary has held our readers captive since he first graced our ] Page in 1973. Reaching for his column became a critical and enjoyable part of the day for our readers across the country and around the world.
Safire prepared a speech called "In Event of Moon Disaster" for President Nixon to deliver on television if the ] astronauts were stranded on the Moon.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/events/centennials/nixon/images/exhibit/rn100-6-1-2.pdf
| title = Scanned copy of the 'In event of moon disaster' memo
| publisher=]
}}</ref> According to the plans, ] would "close down communications" with the ] and a clergyman would have commended their souls to "the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to ]. Presidential telephone calls to the astronauts' wives were also planned. The speech originated in a memo from Safire to Nixon's ] ] in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/42983812.html?dids=42983812:42983812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+7%2C+1999&author=JIM+MANN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=5&desc=National+Perspective%3B+The+Story+of+a+Tragedy+That+Was+Not+to+Be
|title=The Story of a Tragedy That Was Not to Be
|author=Jim Mann
|publisher=]
|date=July 7, 1999
|page=5
|access-date=October 27, 2007
|archive-date=October 29, 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029175955/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/42983812.html?dids=42983812:42983812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+7%2C+1999&author=JIM+MANN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=5&desc=National+Perspective%3B+The+Story+of+a+Tragedy+That+Was+Not+to+Be
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref name="safire">{{cite news
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/12/opinion/essay-disaster-never-came.html
|title= Essay; Disaster Never Came
|author=William Safire
|website=The New York Times
|date=July 12, 1999
|access-date=October 27, 2007
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071029185356/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE2D7103CF931A25754C0A96F958260| archive-date= October 29, 2007 | url-status= live}}
</ref> The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to ]'s ] poem "]".<ref name="safire"/> In a 2013 piece for '']'' magazine, ] included the speech as one of six entries in a list of "The Greatest Doomsday Speeches Never Made".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Greatest Doomsday Speeches Never Made|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/01/the-greatest-doomsday-speeches-never-made/|last=Keating|first=Joshua E.|author-link=Joshua Keating|work=]|date=August 1, 2013|access-date=December 8, 2016}}</ref>


He joined '']'' as a political columnist in 1973. Soon after joining the ''Times'', Safire learned that he had been the target of "national security" wiretaps authorized by Nixon, and, after observing that he had worked only on domestic matters, wrote with what he characterized as "restrained fury" that he had not worked for Nixon through a difficult decade "to have him—or some lizard-lidded paranoid acting without his approval—eavesdropping on my conversations".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F0061FFC3B59137A93CBA91783D85F478785F9 | work=The New York Times | title=The Suspicious 17; ESSAY | first=William | last=Safire | date=August 9, 1973}}</ref>
:Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point, his writing is delightful, informed and engaging."


In 1978, Safire won the ] for ] on ]'s alleged budgetary irregularities; in 1981, Lance was acquitted by a jury on all nine charges. Safire's column on October 27, 1980, entitled "The ] Votes", was quoted in a campaign ad for ] in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980/safire |title=Reagan campaign ad |publisher=Livingroomcandidate.org |date=November 4, 1979 |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> Safire also frequently appeared on the ]'s '']''.
Since 1995 Safire has served as a member of the ] Board. After ending his op-ed column, Safire became the full-time chief executive of the ], where he had been chairman since 2000.


Upon announcing the retirement of Safire's political column in 2005, ], publisher of ''The New York Times'', said:
==Politics==
Safire describes himself as a ] ]. A ''Washington Post'' story on the ending of his op-ed column quotes him on the subject:
:I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian. ],] I was the first to really go after ] on his ].


<blockquote>''The New York Times'' without Bill Safire is all but unimaginable, Bill's provocative and insightful commentary has held our readers captive since he first graced our Op-Ed Page in 1973. Reaching for his column became a critical and enjoyable part of the day for our readers across the country and around the world. Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point, his writing is delightful, informed and engaging.</blockquote>
After voting for ], Safire became one of the leading critics of Clinton's administration. ] in particular was often the target of his ire. He caused a mild tempest when he called her a "congenital liar"; Hillary responded that she didn't feel offended for herself, but for her mother's sake; according to the ], "the president, if he were not the president, would have delivered a more forceful response to that on the bridge of Mr. Safire's nose."


Safire served as a member of the ] Board from 1995 to 2004. After ending his op-ed column, he became the full-time chief executive of the ], where he was chairman from 2000. In 2006, Safire was awarded the ] by President ].
Many readers who followed his columns in the New York Times felt dismayed when he consistently brought up the point that Iraqi intelligence agents met with the 9/11 attackers in Prague, Czech Republic. This theory has been debunked by CIA and other credible intelligence agencies. Still Mr. Safire kept insisting that this theory was true and used this theory to make a case for war against Iraq.


Portions of Safire's ] file were released in 2010. The documents "detail wiretapping ordered by the Nixon administration, including the tapping of Safire's phone".<ref>Gresko, Jessica (April 13, 2010) , ]</ref>
He is also a consistent and avowed ] in the defence of the state of ]. He was also an avid supporter for the the war against Iraq because he felt that Saddam was a threat to Israel.


==Writings of Safire== ===Writing on English===
{{Expand section|date=June 2021}}

In addition to his political columns, Safire wrote a column, "]", in the weekly '']'' from 1979 until the month of his death. Many of the columns were collected in books.<ref name="McFadden"/> According to the linguist ], over the years Safire became less of a "grammar-nitpicker," and ] cited Safire's willingness to learn from ] linguists.<ref>{{cite web | last = Zimmer | first = Benjamin | title = William Safire, 1929-2009 | work = Language Log | date = September 28, 2009 | url = http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1774 | access-date = September 30, 2009}}</ref> Another book on language was ''The New Language of Politics'' (1968),<ref name=McFadden/> which developed into what Zimmer called Safire's "magnum opus," ''Safire's Political Dictionary''.<ref>{{cite web | last = Zimmer | first = Benjamin | title = Remembering the Language Maven | date = September 28, 2009 | work = Word Routes: Exploring the Pathways of our Lexicon | url = http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2000/ | access-date = September 30, 2009}}</ref>

==Political views==
Safire described himself as a "]". A ''Washington Post'' story on the ending of his op-ed column quotes him on the subject:

<blockquote>I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian. ],] I was the first to really go after ] on his treatment of prisoners.</blockquote>

After voting for ] in ], Safire became one of the leading critics of ]. ] in particular was often the target of his ire. He caused controversy in a January 8, 1996, essay when, after reviewing her record, he concluded she was a "congenital liar". She did not respond to the specific instances cited, but said that she did not feel offended for herself, but for her mother's sake. According to Bill Clinton's press secretary at the time, ], "the President, if he were not the President, would have delivered a more forceful response to that on the bridge of Mr. Safire's nose".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/04/magazine/on-language-congenital-liar-punch.html | work=] | title=On Language;Congenital, Liar, Punch | first=William | last=Safire | date=February 4, 1996}}</ref>

Safire was one of several voices who called for ], and predicted a "quick war" and wrote: "Iraqis, cheering their liberators, will lead the Arab world toward democracy."<ref>{{cite news|first=William|last=Safire|quote=Iraqis, cheering their liberators, will lead the Arab world toward democracy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/31/opinion/31SAFI.html?pagewanted=2|title=To Fight Freedom's Fight|newspaper=]|date=January 21, 2002}}</ref> He consistently brought up the point in his ''Times'' columns that an Iraqi intelligence agent met with ], one of the ], in ],<ref>, ''The New York Times'', November 24, 2003</ref> which he called an "undisputed fact". According to the ] and the ], they were unable to confirm or deny the validity of this assertion. The source who made these allegations is alleged to have become concerned that such a meeting could have harmed his career. Nonetheless, ] and ] do deny that the meeting took place. Safire insisted that the theory was true and used it to make a case for war against Iraq. He also incorrectly predicted that "freed scientists" would lead coalition forces to "caches no inspectors could find".<ref>, ''The New York Times'', April 10, 2003</ref>

Safire was staunchly pro-Israel. He received the ] of ] in 2005. President ] appointed him to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to ] for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the ] in May 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lake|first=Eli|title=Bush Visit May Boost Olmert|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/bush-visit-may-boost-olmert/76303/|newspaper=New York Sun|date=May 13, 2008|access-date=January 22, 2010|archive-date=October 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012171011/https://www.nysun.com/foreign/bush-visit-may-boost-olmert/76303/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Death==
Safire died from ] at a hospice in ], on September 27, 2009, aged 79. He was survived by his wife, Helene Belmar (née Julius); their children, Mark and Annabel; and granddaughter, Lily.<ref name="McFadden" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Folkenflik |first=David |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113255309 |title=Political Columnist William Safire Dies At 79 |publisher=NPR |access-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref>

== Publications ==
The following is a partial list of his writings: The following is a partial list of his writings:
*'''Language'''
**''The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular Language Column in the New York Times Magazine'' (2004) ISBN 0743242440
**''No Uncertain Terms: More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine'' (2003) ISBN 0743242432
*'''Novels'''
** ''Scandalmonger'' (2000) ISBN 0684867192
** ''Sleeper Spy'' (1995) ISBN 067943447X
** ''Full Disclosure'' (1978) ISBN 0385121156
*'''Selections'''
** ''Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History'' (1997) ISBN 0393040054
** ''Words of Wisdom: More Good Advice'' (1989) ISBN 0671675354
** ''Good Advice'' (1982) quotations compiled with his brother, Leonard Safire ISBN 0-517-08473-2
*'''Socio-political works'''
** ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', 3rd edition, Random House, NY, l968,l972,l978.
** ''The Relations Explosion''
** ''Plunging into Politics''
** ''Before the Fall''


'''Language'''
==Reference==
* ''The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular Language Column in The New York Times Magazine'' (2004) {{ISBN|0-7432-4244-0}}
* Larry Berman and Bruce W. Jentleson, "Bush and the Post-Cold War World" New Challenges for American Leadership" in Colin Campbell, S.J., and Bert A. Rockman, ed.s ''The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals''. 1991. Chatham House. ISBN 093454090X.
* ''No Uncertain Terms: More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine'' (2003) {{ISBN|0-7432-4243-2}}
* ''Take My Word for It'' (1986) {{ISBN|0-8129-1323-X}}
* ''On Language'' (1980) Times Books {{ISBN|0-8129-0937-2}}
* ''Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage'' (1990) {{ISBN|0-440-21010-0}}

'''Novels'''
* ''Scandalmonger'' (2000) {{ISBN|0-684-86719-2}}
* ''Sleeper Spy'' (1995) {{ISBN|0-679-43447-X}}
* ] (1987) {{ISBN|0-385-15903-X}}
* ''Full Disclosure'' (1978) {{ISBN|0-385-12115-6}}

'''Edited collections'''
* ''Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History'' (1997) {{ISBN|0-393-04005-4}}
* ''Words of Wisdom: More Good Advice'' (1989) {{ISBN|0-671-67535-4}}
* ''Good Advice'' (1982) quotations compiled with his brother, Leonard Safir {{ISBN|0-517-08473-2}}

'''Political works'''
* ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', 3rd edition, Random House, NY, 1968, 1972, 1978. {{ISBN|0-394-50261-2}}
* ''The Relations Explosion''
* ''Plunging into Politics''
* ''Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House''
* ''The First Dissident: The Book of Job in Today's Politics'', Random House, NY, 1992

'''Speeches'''
* "In Event of Moon Disaster", a presidential speech Safire wrote (but Nixon never delivered)

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== General and cited references==
* Larry Berman and Bruce W. Jentleson, "Bush and the Post-Cold War World: New Challenges for American Leadership" in ''The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals''. eds. Colin Campbell, S.J., Bert A. Rockman. 1991. Chatham House. {{ISBN|0-934540-90-X}}.


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* , from the ''New York Times''
* (subscription required) from the ''New York Times'' * , from ''The New York Times''
* (] required) from the ''New York Times'' * from ''The New York Times''
* , a January 2005 story from ]
* , kept at Syracuse University
* , a January 2005 story from ] * , a November 2004 article from '']''
* , a guide to his personal papers.
* , a November 2004 article from '']''
* , a November 2004 article from '']''
* , from the ] * , from the ]
* , ]
* , a presidential speech Safire wrote (but Nixon never delivered), from ]
*
* written by Safire, from the website of the ]
* {{C-SPAN|19464}}
*
* {{FAG|42437961}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=openmind_ep1221|name=Safire on Safire, Part I|description=(1987)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=openmind_ep1222|name=Safire on Safire, Part II|description=(1987)}}

{{PulitzerPrize Commentary 1976–2000}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 01:40, 19 December 2024

American journalist and presidential speechwriter (1929–2009)
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

William Safire
Safire receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006Safire receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006
BornWilliam Lewis Safir
(1929-12-17)December 17, 1929
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 27, 2009(2009-09-27) (aged 79)
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation
GenreNon-fiction
SubjectPolitics
SpouseHelene Belmar Julius
Children2

William Lewis Safire (/ˈsæfaɪər/; né Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He was a long-time syndicated political columnist for The New York Times and wrote the "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine about popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics.

Early life and education

Safire was born William Lewis Safir in New York City, the son of Ida (née Panish) and Oliver Craus Safir. His family was Jewish and of Romanian origin on his father's side. Safire later added the "e" to his surname for pronunciation reasons, although some of his relatives continued to use the original spelling.

Safire graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, a specialized public high school in New York City. He attended S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University but dropped out after two years. He delivered the commencement address at Syracuse in 1978 and 1990, and later became a trustee of the university.

Career

William Safire memo to H. R. Haldeman to be used in the event that Apollo 11 ended in disaster.

After dropping out of Syracuse, Safire worked with Tex McCrary throughout the 1950s, first as a gofer and later a public relations associate. He worked as a publicist for a homebuilder who exhibited a model home at an American trade fair at Sokolniki Park in Moscow in 1959—the one in which Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev had their Kitchen Debate. A much circulated black-and-white photograph of the event was taken by Safire. Safire joined Nixon's campaign for the 1960 presidential race, and again in 1968. After Nixon's 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and for Spiro Agnew; he is known for having created Agnew's famous alliterative term, "nattering nabobs of negativism".

Safire prepared a speech called "In Event of Moon Disaster" for President Nixon to deliver on television if the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. According to the plans, Mission Control would "close down communications" with the LEM and a clergyman would have commended their souls to "the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to burial at sea. Presidential telephone calls to the astronauts' wives were also planned. The speech originated in a memo from Safire to Nixon's chief of staff H. R. Haldeman in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster. The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to Rupert Brooke's First World War poem "The Soldier". In a 2013 piece for Foreign Policy magazine, Joshua Keating included the speech as one of six entries in a list of "The Greatest Doomsday Speeches Never Made".

He joined The New York Times as a political columnist in 1973. Soon after joining the Times, Safire learned that he had been the target of "national security" wiretaps authorized by Nixon, and, after observing that he had worked only on domestic matters, wrote with what he characterized as "restrained fury" that he had not worked for Nixon through a difficult decade "to have him—or some lizard-lidded paranoid acting without his approval—eavesdropping on my conversations".

In 1978, Safire won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary on Bert Lance's alleged budgetary irregularities; in 1981, Lance was acquitted by a jury on all nine charges. Safire's column on October 27, 1980, entitled "The Ayatollah Votes", was quoted in a campaign ad for Ronald Reagan in that year's presidential election. Safire also frequently appeared on the NBC's Meet the Press.

Upon announcing the retirement of Safire's political column in 2005, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times, said:

The New York Times without Bill Safire is all but unimaginable, Bill's provocative and insightful commentary has held our readers captive since he first graced our Op-Ed Page in 1973. Reaching for his column became a critical and enjoyable part of the day for our readers across the country and around the world. Whether you agreed with him or not was never the point, his writing is delightful, informed and engaging.

Safire served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1995 to 2004. After ending his op-ed column, he became the full-time chief executive of the Dana Foundation, where he was chairman from 2000. In 2006, Safire was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.

Portions of Safire's FBI file were released in 2010. The documents "detail wiretapping ordered by the Nixon administration, including the tapping of Safire's phone".

Writing on English

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2021)

In addition to his political columns, Safire wrote a column, "On Language", in the weekly The New York Times Magazine from 1979 until the month of his death. Many of the columns were collected in books. According to the linguist Geoffrey Pullum, over the years Safire became less of a "grammar-nitpicker," and Benjamin Zimmer cited Safire's willingness to learn from descriptive linguists. Another book on language was The New Language of Politics (1968), which developed into what Zimmer called Safire's "magnum opus," Safire's Political Dictionary.

Political views

Safire described himself as a "libertarian conservative". A Washington Post story on the ending of his op-ed column quotes him on the subject:

I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian. I was the first to really go after George W. on his treatment of prisoners.

After voting for Bill Clinton in 1992, Safire became one of the leading critics of Clinton's administration. Hillary Clinton in particular was often the target of his ire. He caused controversy in a January 8, 1996, essay when, after reviewing her record, he concluded she was a "congenital liar". She did not respond to the specific instances cited, but said that she did not feel offended for herself, but for her mother's sake. According to Bill Clinton's press secretary at the time, Mike McCurry, "the President, if he were not the President, would have delivered a more forceful response to that on the bridge of Mr. Safire's nose".

Safire was one of several voices who called for war with Iraq, and predicted a "quick war" and wrote: "Iraqis, cheering their liberators, will lead the Arab world toward democracy." He consistently brought up the point in his Times columns that an Iraqi intelligence agent met with Mohamed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, in Prague, which he called an "undisputed fact". According to the CIA and the FBI, they were unable to confirm or deny the validity of this assertion. The source who made these allegations is alleged to have become concerned that such a meeting could have harmed his career. Nonetheless, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh do deny that the meeting took place. Safire insisted that the theory was true and used it to make a case for war against Iraq. He also incorrectly predicted that "freed scientists" would lead coalition forces to "caches no inspectors could find".

Safire was staunchly pro-Israel. He received the Guardian of Zion Award of Bar-Ilan University in 2005. President George W. Bush appointed him to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.

Death

Safire died from pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Rockville, Maryland, on September 27, 2009, aged 79. He was survived by his wife, Helene Belmar (née Julius); their children, Mark and Annabel; and granddaughter, Lily.

Publications

The following is a partial list of his writings:

Language

  • The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular Language Column in The New York Times Magazine (2004) ISBN 0-7432-4244-0
  • No Uncertain Terms: More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine (2003) ISBN 0-7432-4243-2
  • Take My Word for It (1986) ISBN 0-8129-1323-X
  • On Language (1980) Times Books ISBN 0-8129-0937-2
  • Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage (1990) ISBN 0-440-21010-0

Novels

Edited collections

Political works

  • Safire's Political Dictionary, 3rd edition, Random House, NY, 1968, 1972, 1978. ISBN 0-394-50261-2
  • The Relations Explosion
  • Plunging into Politics
  • Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House
  • The First Dissident: The Book of Job in Today's Politics, Random House, NY, 1992

Speeches

  • "In Event of Moon Disaster", a presidential speech Safire wrote (but Nixon never delivered)

Citations

  1. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (September 27, 2009). "William Safire, Nixon Speechwriter and Times Columnist, Is Dead at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  2. Safire, William (1986). Take My Word for It: More on Language. Times Books. ISBN 978-0-8129-1323-1. p. 185.
  3. William Safire Biography. BookRags.com. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  4. "No Bull Bill – People & Politics". Washingtonian. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  5. Safire, William (1981). On language. Avon Books. p. 236. ISBN 0-380-56457-2.
  6. "Leonard Safir, 71, Early TV Producer And an Anthologist". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  7. Schmuckler, Carol (April 1, 1995). "The Bond of a Lifetime". Syracuse University Magazine. 11 (3): 40. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  8. Shapiro, Walter. "William Safire: Prolific Purveyor Of Punditry," TIME (magazine), February 12, 1990. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  9. "Safire, William. "The Cold War's Hot Kitchen," The New York Times, Friday, July 24, 2009". The New York Times. July 24, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  10. "Scanned copy of the 'In event of moon disaster' memo" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration.
  11. Jim Mann (July 7, 1999). "The Story of a Tragedy That Was Not to Be". L.A. Times. p. 5. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  12. ^ William Safire (July 12, 1999). "Essay; Disaster Never Came". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  13. Keating, Joshua E. (August 1, 2013). "The Greatest Doomsday Speeches Never Made". Foreign Policy. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  14. Safire, William (August 9, 1973). "The Suspicious 17; ESSAY". The New York Times.
  15. "Reagan campaign ad". Livingroomcandidate.org. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  16. Gresko, Jessica (April 13, 2010) "William Safire's FBI File Unlocked", Associated Press
  17. Zimmer, Benjamin (September 28, 2009). "William Safire, 1929-2009". Language Log. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  18. Zimmer, Benjamin (September 28, 2009). "Remembering the Language Maven". Word Routes: Exploring the Pathways of our Lexicon. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  19. Safire, William (February 4, 1996). "On Language;Congenital, Liar, Punch". The New York Times.
  20. Safire, William (January 21, 2002). "To Fight Freedom's Fight". The New York Times. Iraqis, cheering their liberators, will lead the Arab world toward democracy
  21. "Missing Links Found", The New York Times, November 24, 2003
  22. "Jubilant V-I Day", The New York Times, April 10, 2003
  23. Lake, Eli (May 13, 2008). "Bush Visit May Boost Olmert". New York Sun. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  24. Folkenflik, David. "Political Columnist William Safire Dies At 79". NPR. Retrieved October 17, 2013.

General and cited references

  • Larry Berman and Bruce W. Jentleson, "Bush and the Post-Cold War World: New Challenges for American Leadership" in The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals. eds. Colin Campbell, S.J., Bert A. Rockman. 1991. Chatham House. ISBN 0-934540-90-X.

External links

Pulitzer Prize for Commentary


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