Marquis Childs, writer and reporter of outstanding reputation, was born in Iowa, March 17, 1903, the son of a lawyer. From the time of his boyhood he wanted to be a newspaperman, and although in the past thirty years he has written numerous books, appeared on many radio and television programs, and lectured widely, he remains essentially a reporter. In the course of his travels in search of material and news he has visited Europe many times, and has made studies in South America.
Graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1923, Marquis Childs first started working for the United Press at Chicago. In 1925 he returned to college, this time at the University of Iowa. There he taught English composition, and received the master's degree. He then went to New York for the United Press, but in 1926 joined the staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a feature writer. In 1934 the Post-Dispatch sent Childs to Washington D.C. He represented that newspaper in Washington until 1944 when he launched a syndicated column known as “Washington Calling”--a column that has had a circulation of 150 to 200 newspapers throughout the country. A series known as “Washington Spotlight” was started in 1951, featuring television interviews of prominent people, with Childs serving as moderator.
His reputation is such that through the years Childs has become an opinion maker as well as reporter, repeatedly reporting and forecasting news with accuracy and perception. Known as a “liberal” in his points of view, Childs once described himself in a letter as being “somewhat to the left of center.” He has written many short stories and articles for magazines such as Harpers, Yale Review, Scribner's, the Saturday Evening Post, New Republic, Life, Reader's Digest, and Look. Among his books, both fiction and non-fiction, Sweden--the Middle Way has been the most widely read, becoming a best seller soon after it came off the press in 1936. Other books by Childs include:
- They Hate Roosevelt - 1936
- Washington Calling - 1937
- This Is Democracy - 1938
- This Is Your War - 1942
- I Write from Washington - 1942
- The Cabin - 1944
- The Farmer Takes a Hand - 1952
- Ethics in Business Society, with Douglass Cater - 1954
- The Ragged Edge - 1955
- Eisenhower, Captive Hero - 1958
As a leading American journalist he has received many awards, among them the Sigma Delta Chi award as the best Washington correspondent in 1944, and the award for journalism granted by the University of Missouri. Marquis Childs is married, and has a son and daughter, both grown.
