Author: Fred J. Cook

His Background

He was an investigative journalist.
His prime years of journaling were between the early 1950’s and late 1970’s.
He was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and grew up in a house on Bay Avenue near the border with Bay Head.
He graduated from Rutgers University in 1932.
Started journalism career at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_J._Cook)

His first wife, Julia, died in 1974 and his second wife, Irene, died in 1992.
With Irene he had a son named Frederick P. Cook, a daughter Barbara Shibla; and 6 grandchildren.
As of 2003 he has written 45 books!
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/04/nyregion/fred-j-cook-92-the-author-of-45-books-many-exposes.html)

Book: The Warfare State (Macmillan: 1962)

“The pressures of post-World War II have created in America a new phenomenon, a power complex which may be aptly called the Warfare State. It is a conjunction of military-industrial power, against which President Eisenhower warned in his Farewell Address. Fed by ever increasing billions of dollars, the Warfare State rests upon two assumptions: that safety can be achieved only through power, that prosperity depends upon the constant pump-priming of the domestic economy through the expenditure of military billions. Both assumptions are false. Power in the nuclear age has become self-defeating and suicidal. Full employment and prosperity can no longer be guaranteed by military expenditures, for experience proves that vast sums spent for military hardware act in the long run only as a drug and a drag on the over-all econ omy. But both myths, aided by the lobbying of the military- industrial complex, persist in influencing American decisions and preventing them from being based on clear conceptions of reality.”
(http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/351/1/102)

The Problem attacked in the writing:

Cook believes the Cold War began, and still continues, because of a conspiracy of the American military-industrial complex. (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-warfare-state--by-fred-j--cook-3671)

Charles Edward Russell a 20th century Muckraker

“The best way to abolish the muckraker is to abolish the muck.”
~Charles Edward Russell

A bit of background:

Charles Edward Russell was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1860. He was one of at least four children, three of which are girls. His father was a journalist, and he quickly follwed suit after graduating from the St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont. Russell has written multiple articles and books all in the hopes of creating a better America. After owning up to being
"the most prolific and controversial of the muckrakers who crusaded for social changes in America during the early years of the twentieth century" (Robert Miraldi, The Pen is Mightier: The Muckraking Life of Charles Edward Russell) Charled Edward Russell died in 1941.

Some of His Works:

Such Stuff as Dreams (1902, poetry)
Thomas Chatterton: The Marvelous Boy (1908, biography)
The Greatest Trust in the World (1905) (expose of the beef trust)
The Uprising of the Many (1907)
Lawless Wealth (1908) ((expose of the tobacco trust)
Why I Am a Socialist (1910)
These Shifting Scenes (1914)
Unchained Russia (1918, nonfiction)
After the Whirlwind (1919, nonfiction)
Bolshevism and the United States (1919, nonfiction)
The Story of the Non-partisan League (1920, nonfiction)
The Outlook for the Philippines (1922, nonfiction)
Julia Marlowe: Her Life and Art (1926, biography)
The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas (1927, biography)
Bare Hands and Stone Walls: Some Recollections of a Sideline Reformer (1933, memoir)

His main focus:

Russell's pupose, like many muckrakers, was to reveal to society the "filth" of the world they were living in. He covered a wide range of subjuects, though his larges focus was probably socialisim. Charles Russell was very proud of what he did, and even prouder of his title of a "Chief or Prince Muckraker."

The effects:

Due to his many writings Charles Russell had a large influence in his society. His works inspired Upton Sinclair while creating "The Jungle." He was the cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) i 1909. Later Russel became a candidate for the Governor of New York in 1910 and 1912, posing as a Socialist. Charles was well known and involved in many governmental aspects durng WWI. He was a very respected and powerful man even by President Woodrow Wilson himself.

Works Cited

Fred J. Cook Research

Bazelon, David T. "The Warfare State, by Fred J. Cook: REVIEWED BY DAVID T. BAZELON."Commentary Magazine. 1997-2007. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-warfare-state--by-fred-j--cook-3671>.

"Fred J. Cook." Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 20 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_J._Cook>.

LAVIETES, STUART. "Fred J. Cook, 92, the Author of 45 Books, Many Exposés." The New York Times. 4 May 2003. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/04/nyregion/fred-j-cook-92-the-author-of-45-books-many-exposes.html>.

"The Warfare State: Fred J. Cook." SAGE journals online. American Academy of Political & Social Science, 1964. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. <http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/351/1/102>.

Charles Edward Russell Research

"Charles Edward Russell."Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 3: 1941-1945. American Council of Learned Societies, 1973. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009.

"Charles Russell." Welcome to the State University of New York at New Paltz! Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .

"Charles Edward Russell." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArussellCE.htm.

Robert Miraldi, The Pen is Mightier: The Muckraking Life of Charles Edward Russell, 2003.