Spivak, Lawrence Edmund

▪ 1995

      U.S. broadcast journalist (b. June 11, 1900, Brooklyn, N.Y.—d. March 9, 1994, Washington, D.C.), was a founder of the pioneering radio and television show "Meet the Press," which set the standard for a generation of political interview programs. Spivak graduated from Harvard University cum laude in 1921 and went to work in the publishing business. In 1935 he purchased American Mercury, but he sold that magazine in 1950. In 1945, together with producer and moderator Martha Rountree, he launched "Meet the Press" as a radio program on the Mutual Broadcasting System. The show moved to NBC television three years later. Spivak developed the style of a moderated panel of journalists subjecting leading political figures to rigorous, direct questioning. Originally preferring to be a permanent panelist, Spivak took over as moderator of the program in 1960. A model of self-control and objectivity himself, he said that "if a man is honest and knows his stuff, he'll emerge with the proper stature. By the same token, so will a phony." The program rapidly won acclaim and attracted a stream of illustrious guests that included emperors, kings, presidents (including incumbent Pres. Gerald Ford on the occasion of Spivak's last regular show), chancellors, and senators. "Meet the Press" continued after Spivak's retirement in 1975 and in 1994 was the longest-running program on U.S. television.

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