Ogden Reid

Ogden Reid
Name	Ogden Reid
Birth date	February 10, 1925
Birth place	Hudson, New York, U.S.
Death date	March 2, 2019
Death place	Waccabuc, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, newspaper publisher, diplomat, politician
Party	Republican (until 1972), Democratic (from 1972)
Spouse	Mary Bass (m. 1949–1975), Edith Ewing (m. 1976)
Parents	Helen Rogers Reid, Ogden Mills Reid
Alma mater	Deerfield Academy, Yale University

Ogden Reid was an American newspaperman, diplomat, and politician who served as publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, United States Ambassador to Israel, and a U.S. Representative from New York. A scion of the Reid and Mills families, he moved from Republican to Democratic politics during the Vietnam War era and played a role in journalism, foreign affairs, and congressional debates on urban policy. Reid's career intersected with figures and institutions across mid‑20th century United States public life.

Early life and education

Born in Hudson, New York, Reid was the son of publisher Ogden Mills Reid and editor Helen Rogers Reid, linking him to the Reid family of American journalism and the Mills family (U.S. political family). He attended Deerfield Academy and served in the United States Army during World War II. After military service he studied at Yale University, where he participated in campus activities and developed connections with classmates who later served in Congress, diplomacy, and the media.

Journalism and publishing career

Reid began his professional life at the New York Herald Tribune, the family newspaper founded on the legacy of the Tribune Company and competing with the New York Times, New York Daily News, and New York Post. As reporter and later publisher, he worked alongside editors and journalists associated with newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and magazines including Time (magazine) and Newsweek. The Herald Tribune confronted challenges posed by union disputes with the Newspaper Guild, market competition from Gannett Company, and changing readership amid the rise of television networks like CBS and NBC. Reid oversaw editorial staff interactions with figures from the Kennedy administration, Johnson administration, and metropolitan leaders from New York City such as mayors who negotiated urban policy coverage. The Herald Tribune's financial struggles, workplace conflicts, and consolidation trends similar to those affecting the Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe culminated in the paper's disappearance, prompting Reid to transition fully into public service and politics.

Political career

Reid was active in Republican Party circles before his opposition to aspects of the Vietnam War led him to switch affiliation to the Democratic Party in 1972. He won election to the United States House of Representatives from New York's 26th congressional district (later redistricted) in the 1970s, serving on committees that addressed urban affairs and foreign relations. During his tenure in Congress, he engaged with fellow lawmakers including members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, collaborated with senators from New York (state) such as Jacob Javits and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and participated in legislative debates touching on issues involving the State of Israel, Soviet Union, and postwar Vietnam. Reid's bipartisan contacts extended to administrations including Nixon administration, Ford administration, and Carter administration officials during appropriations and oversight hearings.

Ambassador to Israel

Appointed United States Ambassador to Israel under President Richard Nixon and serving into the Gerald Ford era, Reid represented American diplomatic interests in the Middle East during a period shaped by the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, Cold War tensions involving the Soviet Union, and U.S. policy debates about arms sales and peacemaking. In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv he engaged with Israeli leaders from parties such as Likud and Labor Party, and with Israeli officials involved in negotiations related to territories captured in the Six-Day War and subsequent armistice discussions. His ambassadorship involved coordination with the United States Department of State, liaison with representatives from United Nations agencies, and contact with American Jewish organizations including the American Jewish Committee and American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Personal life and family

A member of a prominent publishing dynasty, Reid married Mary Bass, the daughter of David K. E. Bruce‑era social figures and connected to families active in publishing and philanthropy; after their divorce he married Edith Ewing. He had five children and maintained residences in Westchester County, New York and country estates connected to families such as the Livingstons and Vanderbilts by social ties. Reid's family relationships intersected with cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and philanthropic organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation.

Death and legacy

Reid died at his home in Waccabuc, New York in 2019. His legacy is tied to the decline of mid‑20th century metropolitan newspapers exemplified by the fate of the New York Herald Tribune, to diplomatic engagement during a volatile phase of Middle East diplomacy, and to a congressional career marked by party realignment during the Vietnam War era. Historians of American media and foreign policy often reference Reid in discussions alongside contemporaries such as Arthur Hays Sulzberger, Katharine Graham, Walter Cronkite, and diplomats who shaped U.S. relations with Israel and Arab League states.

Category:1925 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Israel Category:American newspaper publishers (people)