Joseph Pulitzer was born on April 10th, 1847 in Mako Hungary and died on October 29th, 1911 in Charleston, South Carolina (age 64). At age 17, Pulitzer left home and made his way to Hamberg, Germany where he was recruited into the Union Army. By the time he arrived in the United States, Pulitzer was only able to serve the last eight months of the Civil War and being unable to find work in New York City after his discharge, made his way to St. Louis Missouri (Barney).
In 1868, Pulitzer was offered a job as a reporter for the Westliche Post (the leading German language daily newspaper in St. Louis) where he then developed into a first class journalist. He strived to expose the corruption in the city's government as well as the unethical behavior of many of its prominent businesspeople. In 1871, Pulitzer became part owner of the newspaper along side Carl Schurz who had offered him the job as a reporter 2 years prior (Carey).
In 1873, Pulitzer decided to move his focus towards law and politics rather than journalism. He became a popular stump speaker for Democratic Party candidates and was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1876. In 1878 he married Kate Davis with whom he had seven children and that same year, he returned to newspaper publishing full time when he bought the St. Louis Evening Dispatch. Not long after, Pulitzer decided to merge his paper with the rival Evening Post to form the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to which he became the sole owner of only a year later. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch exposed crimes, economic affairs, gossip and preached "power to the people"(Carey).
In 1868, Pulitzer was offered a job as a reporter for the Westliche Post (the leading German language daily newspaper in St. Louis) where he then developed into a first class journalist. He strived to expose the corruption in the city's government as well as the unethical behavior of many of its prominent businesspeople. In 1871, Pulitzer became part owner of the newspaper along side Carl Schurz who had offered him the job as a reporter 2 years prior (Carey).
In 1873, Pulitzer decided to move his focus towards law and politics rather than journalism. He became a popular stump speaker for Democratic Party candidates and was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1876. In 1878 he married Kate Davis with whom he had seven children and that same year, he returned to newspaper publishing full time when he bought the St. Louis Evening Dispatch. Not long after, Pulitzer decided to merge his paper with the rival Evening Post to form the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to which he became the sole owner of only a year later. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch exposed crimes, economic affairs, gossip and preached "power to the people"(Carey).