JOHN CALLAN O’LAUGHLIN COLLECTION
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
West Branch, Iowa
The John Callan O’Laughlin Collection consists of selected photocopies from the papers of journalist and publisher O’Laughlin, which are held by the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. These files were copied and added to the collection of the Hoover Presidential Library in 1999.
John Callan O’Laughlin was born in Washington DC on January 11, 1873. He began his career as a journalist writing for the Washington bureau of the New York Herald from 1893 to 1902. After a short stint on the European staff of the Associated Press, from which he reported on the Russo-Japanese War while based in Russia, he was hired by the Chicago Tribune, and worked as the Tribune’s Washington correspondent until 1914. From 1914 to 1917 O’Laughlin reported for the Chicago Herald, but in 1918 was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army, serving as an aide to Major General George W. Goethals. Upon returning from his service after the war, O’Laughlin established the Army and Navy Journal, a weekly that covered news concerning the American military as well as world affairs.
During these years, O’Laughlin was also involved in a number of political issues. He developed a friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt, serving as a secretary to Roosevelt on a trip to Europe and Africa, as well as acting as a delegate of Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party at the 1912 Progressive Party Convention. From the 1920s onward, O’Laughlin was active in the Republican National Committee, serving as executive secretary of the policy committee in 1920 and as assistant to the chairman in 1933-1934. During this period, O’Laughlin developed a friendship with Herbert Hoover, and following Hoover’s defeat in the 1932 election, remained a staunch supporter of the former President. O’Laughlin felt that Hoover’s critique of New Deal policies was of great value to the party, and he encouraged Republican leaders to seek Hoover’s counsel and support.
John Callan O’Laughlin died on March 14, 1949, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The John Callan O’Laughlin Collection consists of 0.2 linear feet of photocopies that were selected from the 45 linear feet of his papers at the Library of Congress. These files, which are listed below, usually consist of correspondence that makes reference to former President Hoover and his role in Republican Party politics in the presidential elections from 1936-1948. Additional files that do not refer to Hoover nevertheless complement existing manuscript collections at the Hoover Presidential Library, such as those of Truman Smith and Robert E. Wood.
John Callan O’Laughlin Collection
Folder List
Hilles, Charles D., 1936-1940
Hoover, Herbert, Memos of Conversation, 1931-1945
Japan, Memos of Conversation, 1939-1941
MacArthur, Douglas, 1940-1948
McCormick, Robert, 1942, 1947
Mosley, George Van Horn, 1936, 1939
Mitchell, James C., 1936-1938
Pershing, John A., 1937
Republican National Committee, 1934
Roosevelt, Franklin D., Memo of Conversation, 1938
Richey, Lawrence, 1936
Sarnoff, David, 1946-1948
Smith, Truman, 1941-1942
Wood, Robert E., 1941
Woodring, Harry H., 1939