BARTLEY, Robert L(eRoy) 1937-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born October 12, 1937, in Marshall, MN; died of complications from cancer, December 10, 2003, in Manhattan, NY. Journalist and author. Bartley was a Pulitzer Prizewinning editor who was best known as the former financial editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was a graduate of Iowa State University, where he completed his undergraduate work in 1959, and the University of Wisconsin, where he earned a master's in 1962 after serving a year in the U.S. Army Reserve as a second lieutenant. After a brief apprenticeship as a reporter at the Grinnell Herald-Register in Iowa, Bartley joined the Wall Street Journal staff in Chicago in 1962. This was followed by a year's stint in Philadelphia and six years in New York City as an editorial writer in the late 1960s. Bartley started writing editorials for the Journal's Washington, D.C., office in 1970 and was promoted to editorial page editor two years later. He became editor of the Journal in 1979, remaining at that post until his retirement as editor emeritus in 2002 after having also served as vice president of the newspaper since 1983; in 2003 he was made vice president of Dow Jones, the corporate owner of the Wall Street Journal. During his tenure as editor, Bartley became somewhat controversial among his staff for his very conservative economic and political views, often using the editorial section of the paper to publish the opinions of conservative economic writers. Along with Bartley, writers such as Jude Wanniski and Robert B. Laffer believed in what became known as supply-side economics, favoring the tax cuts and less government regulation of businesses that became characteristic of the Reagan administration's policies. Liberal economists, along with many of the Journal's staff, criticized Bartley's use of the editorial page to express his views on the economy. Bartley was also criticized for publishing his political opinions against Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, for accusing former Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis of having a history of mental illness, and for his support of conservative judges to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Bartley gained plaudits for his support of women's rights, especially in the area of promoting women writers and editors. Bartley's editorial writing earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1980, and just before his death he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was also the author of The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again (1992).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2003, Section 3, p. 14.

Los Angeles Times, December 11, 2003, p. B14.

New York Times, December 11, 2003, p. C12.

Times (London, England), December 17, 2003.

Washington Post, December 11, 2003, p. B6.