Henry Watterson

Journalist and politician, born in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. The son of a US congressman, he grew up personally familiar with many presidents and passionately interested in politics. As progressive-minded editor of the Kentucky newspaper Louisville Courier-Journal (1868–1902) and then editorial writer (until 1919), he became the most influential voice in Southern journalism. He served briefly in the US House (1876–7), and in 1917 he won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism for editorials urging US entrance into World War 1.

Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840–December 22, 1921) was a United States journalist who founded the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Born in Washington, D.C., the son of Harvey Magee Watterson, a journalist and Congressman, Watterson became a newspaper reporter early in his life. Forrest during the American Civil War, and edited a pro-Confederate newspaper, the Chattanooga Rebel.

After the war, Watterson edited newspapers in several states before settling down in Louisville, Kentucky to edit the Louisville Journal.

Watterson was called "the last of the great personal journalists", writing colorful and controversial editorials on many topics. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for two editorials supporting U.S. entry into World War I, and he remained the editor until 1919.

During his tenure as editor, Watterson was a Democratic representative in Congress from 1876 to 1877, and was a five-time delegate to the National Democratic Convention, where, in 1892, he received a smattering of votes for the vice presidential nomination. Watterson was the nephew of Thomas Stanley Matthews. The Henry Watterson Expressway, I-264 in Louisville, was named after him. "Marse" Watterson appears on an 83p commemorative stamp from the Isle of Man Post Office, as part of a series honoring Manx-Americans.