Kaltenborn, Hans von (1878-1965)

With his peppery but precise delivery, the "Dean of Commentators," Hans von Kaltenborn, was a familiar feature of the American airwaves for over 30 years. Kaltenborn started his career as a newspaperman, but then moved to radio at the very moment the new medium was beginning to establish itself as a disseminator of news. In the 1920s, when broadcast news was rare and usually consisted of a narrative accounting of current events, Kaltenborn maintained the unorthodox view that newscasters should not only report facts and information, they should provide analysis and insight into the situation "behind the headlines." Often regarded as the first regular radio news commentator, Hans's vast knowledge of foreign affairs and international politics amply equipped him for covering crises in Europe and the Far East in the 1930s. His vivid reporting of the Spanish Civil War and the Czech Crisis of 1938, more than any other feat of broadcasting, firmly established the credibility of radio news in the public mind and helped to overcome the nation's isolationist sensibilities.

Throughout his life, Kaltenborn was rarely far from the news. He was born on July 9, 1878, to German immigrant parents in Milwaukee, and when old enough left his father's building material business to do odd jobs at a local newspaper. His press career began in earnest when, at age 19, he joined the Fourth Wisconsin Volunteers Infantry and covered the Spanish-American War for the Merrill (Wisconsin)Advocate. He moved to the Brooklyn Eagle in 1902 and entered Harvard's journalism program three years later. Always restless, Kaltenborn spent his summers traveling in Europe and lecturing on conditions there when he returned home. It was in this latter capacity that Kaltenborn developed the oratorical skills that would serve him well when he switched mediums.

On April 4, 1922, while working as an Eagle editor, Kaltenborn delivered the first current events analysis in radio history while covering a coal strike for WVP. The same year, he broadcast a news summary live from the Statue of Liberty for WYCB. Throughout the 1920s, Kaltenborn's on-air activities were confined largely to the New York area, with a weekly half-hour program of commentary for WEAF and "Kaltenborn's Digest" for WOR. In 1923 he became the first "network" newscaster when a Washington, D.C., station decided to link with WEAF and carry his broadcasts. By 1929 he was a national personality and could be heard over 19 CBS stations.

In 1930, after 20 years with the press, he resigned from the Eagle and became a full-time broadcaster. His national radio exposure was given a major boost by his coverage of the 1932 Hoover-Roosevelt presidential campaign, and when his "Kaltenborn Edits the News" program moved to a Friday-evening spot in 1935.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kaltenborn understood the nature of his radio audience. While he spoke rapidly, he was always lucid and rarely employed complex words or long sentences. He quickly overcame the blustering habits he had acquired as a platform speaker and adopted an informal and more conversational vocal style that appealed to listeners. Rather than use a script, he preferred to speak extemporaneously, often making gestures as if he could actually see his vast audience. His penchant for ad-libbing often brought him into conflict with sponsors and network executives, who expected to review his speech before airtime. In 1948, Harry Truman delighted the nation when he imitated Kaltenborn's "clipped style" for the newsreel cameras.

While in the mid-1930s newscasts were unsponsored and attracted diminutive audiences, signs of conflict in Europe increased public interest in radio news. Kaltenborn was quick to recognize this fact. In 1936, he brought the events of the Spanish Civil War into millions of American living-rooms with his live report of the Battle of Irun. With microphone in hand and concealed within a haystack, Hans gave listeners a complete blow-by-blow account as Franco's forces endeavored to drive the Loyalists from the field. His eyewitness report was "punctuated by machine gun fire," and he even managed to remain on the air after exploding shells severed a main cable. With this broadcast (the first live report of a combat action), Kaltenborn gained the admiration of the entire broadcast community and earned for his Headlines and Bylines program a position in CBS's coveted Sunday lineup. Kaltenborn's other broadcast achievements in the 1936-37 period included reports from the League of Nations and the London Economic Conference and interviews with Hitler and Mussolini.

While Kaltenborn achieved many notable on-air triumphs by 1938, his coverage of the Czech Crisis in September of that year made him a household name. When Hitler's demands for the cessation of the Sudetenland threatened to plunge all of Europe into war, Kaltenborn spent 18 days in CBS's Studio Nine keeping America informed of every phase of the crisis. Sleeping on a cot and subsisting on a diet of onion soup and coffee, Hans would rush to the microphone whenever a new flash or bulletin was received, deliver the news to an anxious public, and immediately comment on it. Every time he performed this ritual, all broadcasts on the 115-station network were instantly interrupted. In addition to reading dispatches and providing commentary, Kaltenborn also acted as the first modern news anchor, coordinating the on-air reports of other network correspondents stationed at points throughout Europe. Given his knowledge of German and French, Hans was able to provide simultaneous translations of the speeches of Hitler and French Premier Daladier. By September 28, Kaltenborn had made 85 separate broadcasts on the situation. This feat brought him over 50,000 letters and telegrams of praise, as well as Radio Daily's "Most Popular Commentator" award. His enormous renown earned him both a sponsor (Pure Oil) and a contract guaranteeing complete editorial freedom (quite unprecedented). The faith Kaltenborn's listeners developed in radio news as a result of his Czech Crisis broadcasts contributed to the widespread hysteria produced when CBS "covered" another conflict the following month—Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. Kaltenborn's reputation for being the first and most reliable man on the air led to a woman's comment on the public panic: "How ridiculous! Anybody should have known it was not a real war. If it had been, the broadcaster would have been Hans."

In the summer of 1939, when Germany signed a nonaggression agreement with the Soviet Union and threatened the integrity of Poland, Kaltenborn mobilized for another crisis. As Europe moved closer to the brink, he spent three weeks on the continent interviewing key political and diplomatic figures. When he delivered the news of the outbreak of World War II in September, over half of all radios in America were tuned to him.

In 1940, Kaltenborn found himself immersed in controversy. While the United States was officially neutral in the European war, Hans was an outspoken interventionist. His broadcasts in favor of aiding Britain were bitterly criticized by the American First Committee. When this position brought him into conflict with CBS news director Paul White, Hans relocated to NBC.

In 1941, Kaltenborn's commentaries dwelt increasingly on the need for American vigilance and defense in the Pacific. He observed the gradual deterioration of U.S.-Japanese relations and warned of an aggressive move by the latter weeks before Pearl Harbor. With America's entry into the war, Kaltenborn remained an active broadcaster. Despite his age (63), he carried a microphone to every major battlefront (from Guadalcanal to Rome) and interviewed soldiers and statesmen alike. In 1945 he fulfilled a personal mission when he covered the opening of the new United Nations in San Francisco. His wartime accomplishments were recognized with the 1945 DuPont Radio Award and nine other honors in 1946.

Kaltenborn remained at NBC after the war and continued regular newscasting until 1953. Thereafter he made several television appearances, but never developed an affection for the visual medium. Kaltenborn's rich on-air life and his many broadcast achievements are chronicled in his autobiography, Fifty Fabulous Years (1950), and in a string of books containing his most well known radio commentaries—Kaltenborn Edits the News (1937), I Broadcast the Crisis (1938), and Kaltenborn Edits the War News (1942). When he died in June of 1965, much of the broadcast industry and many of his former associates attended his New York City funeral.

—Robert J. Brown

Further Reading:

Brown, Robert J. Manipulating the Ether: The Power of Broadcast Radio in Thirties America. Jefferson City, McFarland & Company, 1998.

Fang, Irving. Those Radio Commentators! Ames, Iowa, 1977.

Kaltenborn, Hans von. Fifty Fabulous Years. New York, Randon House, 1950.

——. I Broadcast the Crisis. New York, Random House, 1938.