Stanton, Frank Nicholas

▪ 2007

      American business executive (March 20, 1908, Muskegon, Mich.—d. Dec. 24, 2006, Boston, Mass.), served as president (1946–71) and standard-bearer of CBS during the formative years of television and was also responsible for the company's diversification into other areas, including publishing and Broadway ventures. Though CBS chairman William S. Paley was responsible for programming, Stanton was instrumental in bringing radio star Arthur Godfrey and comic Jackie Gleason to TV. Stanton was especially concerned with the news division and created an executive review board to ensure that news policy and editorializing were kept separate. He also served as the buffer between CBS reporters and the White House during the administration of Richard M. Nixon. Stanton was responsible for televising the first presidential debate in 1960 and permitted four days of commercial-free news coverage when Pres. John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Stanton expanded the nightly news from 15 to 30 minutes and stood fast against government demands (and a threat of possible imprisonment) that CBS turn over materials from its controversial 1971 TV investigative report on the Vietnam War, “The Selling of the Pentagon.” Contractually, Stanton was forced to step down in 1971 as president, and he then served as vice-chairman (he was disappointed never to have been made chairman) until his retirement in 1973, when he became chairman and COO of the American Red Cross.

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