Page 87 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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KLAN
KLUX
KU
Krock, as he was known to colleagues, served as the New York Times Wash-
ington Bureau chief, the paper's Washington correspondent, and columnist, han-
dling all three assignments at the same time for 20 years.
In the course of that career, he won three Pulitzer Prizes and suggested that
another not be awarded to him—even though a majority of the Pulitzer Board
had decided to do so—for fear it would show favoritism. That award would
have been for his 1950 exclusive interview with President Harry Truman. Like
the exclusive, Pulitzer Prize-winning interview Krock had with President Roo-
sevelt in 1937, the Truman interview nettled other journalists, perhaps more
upset with the president than with their competitor.
Arthur Krock, Walter Lippmann, and David Lawrence were considered pio-
neers of the newspaper column and links between the nation's isolationist past and
its emergence as a world power. Through those years, Krock was a confidant and
consultant to all the presidents he reported on and to congressional leaders as well.
Nevertheless, his colleagues and competitors marveled at how he maintained his
objectivity when it came to reporting events about those he knew well.
Born in Glasgow, Kentucky, Krock attended Princeton for a semester before
having to leave for financial reasons. He did earn a two-year degree in 1906 from
the Lewis Institute in Chicago and then returned to Kentucky, where his early
journalism career consisted of Louisville newspapers. He first tenure in Washing-
ton, D.C., began in 1910, covering the presidency of William Howard Taft. Krock
later became editorial manager of the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louis-
ville Times and then editor of the Times. He worked, too, for the Pulitzer family's
New York World before joining the New York Times in 1927.
SOURCE: Arthur Krock, Memoirs: Sixty Years on the Firing Line, 1972.
Herb Strentz

KU KLUX KLAN (KKK) is a group of loosely related organizations that
support white supremacy and the Protestant religion. The groups are primarily
based in the South and claim to be descendants of the original KKK founded
in Tennessee in the late 1800s.
In addition to the advocacy of a separatist movement by race and religion,
Klan members are also very conservative. Nationwide, the Klan reportedly has
tens of thousands of members.
While the Klan heritage is one of violence, it has in recent years operated, to
some extent, in the political arena, supporting candidates and promoting its
views in the media. It also tries to engage in nonviolent protest, but its heritage
tends to draw groups to counter them, and violence often ensues. The Klan
movement has offshoot groups for women and youth interested in following the
Klan's beliefs.

SOURCES: John B. Harer, Intellectual Freedom: A Reference Handbook, 1992; Ciaran
O. Maolain, The Radical Right: A World Directory, 1987.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford