David Halberstam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Halberstam
Halberstam in 2001
Born	(1934-04-10)April 10, 1934 New York City, U.S.
Died	April 23, 2007(2007-04-23) (aged 73) Menlo Park, California, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, historian, writer
Nationality	American
Education	A.B., Harvard College
Genre	Non-fiction
Spouse	Elżbieta Czyżewska ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1977)​ Jean Sandness Butler ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	1
Relatives	Michael J. Halberstam (brother)

David Halberstam (born April 10, 1934 – died April 23, 2007) was an American writer and journalist. He was known for his books and articles about important events. These included the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and sports. He won a famous award called the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964. He passed away in a car accident in 2007 while working on a new book.

Early Life and Education

David Halberstam was born in New York City. His family was Jewish. He grew up in Winsted, Connecticut, and later in Yonkers, New York. He finished high school in 1951.

In 1955, he graduated from Harvard College. While at Harvard, he was the managing editor of the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.

Journalism Career Begins

Halberstam's journalism career started at a small newspaper in West Point, Mississippi. He then moved to The Tennessean in Nashville. There, he reported on the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.

He was one of the few journalists who covered the Nashville sit-ins. These were protests where Black and white students sat at segregated lunch counters. Civil rights leader John Lewis said Halberstam was the only reporter in Nashville to cover these important events. Halberstam wrote about this in his 1998 book, The Children. He bravely reported the truth, even when authorities tried to hide it.

Reporting from the Congo

In 1961, The New York Times sent Halberstam to the Republic of the Congo. He reported on the country's political problems. The work was difficult, and he found it hard to get accurate information from officials.

Covering the Vietnam War

In 1962, Halberstam moved to Vietnam to report on the Vietnam War. He was a confident and honest reporter. He soon disagreed with American officials who were not telling the full truth about the war.

For example, he was told to report a military operation as a victory. But Halberstam knew it wasn't true. He believed the enemy would have heard the helicopters and left. He wrote that only American reporters and readers were kept in the dark.

Halberstam and other journalists, like Neil Sheehan, challenged the official, positive reports. They showed that government troops were defeated at the Battle of Ap Bac. This was a major battle in the war. President John F. Kennedy even tried to get The New York Times to replace Halberstam. But the newspaper refused.

During the Buddhist crisis in 1963, Halberstam reported the truth about attacks on Buddhist temples. Officials tried to blame the regular army. But Halberstam and Sheehan found out that special forces, loyal to the president's brother, were responsible. He even got into a fight with secret police who attacked another journalist. Halberstam ran to help his colleague.

Clashes with Other Journalists

Halberstam's honest reporting led to disagreements with other journalists. Some, like Marguerite Higgins and Joseph Alsop, supported the government's view. They believed Halberstam and others were being "defeatist."

Halberstam believed these journalists were not reporting from the ground. They were just interviewing officials in Saigon. He felt they were trying to support government policy, not report the truth. He wrote that the American government was fighting "less a war than a public relations campaign."

In 1963, Halberstam received the George Polk Award for his reporting. This included his eyewitness account of a Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Đức, setting himself on fire as a protest.

Halberstam left Vietnam in 1964. He was only 30 years old. That same year, he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.

Life After Vietnam

In the mid-1960s, Halberstam continued to cover the Civil Rights Movement. He also went to Poland for The New York Times. There, he married a popular actress, Elżbieta Czyżewska.

Two years later, he was asked to leave Poland. This was because he wrote an article criticizing the Polish government. His wife followed him, which affected her acting career in Poland.

Halberstam wrote a book called The Making of a Quagmire (1965). It explored how America got stuck in the Vietnam War.

Books on Politics and Media

Halberstam wrote many important books. The Best and the Brightest (1972) looked at how President John F. Kennedy's team made decisions about the Vietnam War.

His book The Powers That Be (1979) explored powerful media companies. It featured leaders from CBS, Time magazine, and The Washington Post.

In 1991, he wrote The Next Century. In this book, he suggested that other countries like Japan and Germany might become stronger economically than the United States after the Cold War.

Sportswriting Career

Later in his career, Halberstam wrote many books about sports. He loved to write about the people and the times, not just the games.

Some of his sports books include:

• The Breaks of the Game (1981) about a basketball team.
• Summer of '49 (1989) about the baseball rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
• October 1964 (1994) about the 1964 World Series.
• Playing for Keeps (1999) about basketball legend Michael Jordan.
• The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship (2003) about baseball players from the 1940s.
• The Education of a Coach (2005) about football coach Bill Belichick.

Halberstam often showed athletes from the past as symbols of a different time. He saw them as hard-working people trying to achieve success.

Later Years and Final Works

David Halberstam wrote many books throughout his life. He published four books in the 1960s, including The Making of a Quagmire. He continued writing, publishing several books in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. His 1998 book, The Children, told the story of the Nashville sit-ins.

After the 9/11 attacks, Halberstam wrote Firehouse (2002). This book described the lives of firefighters in New York City. His last completed book was The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (2007). It was published after he passed away.

Death

David Halberstam died in a car accident on April 23, 2007. He was 73 years old. The accident happened in Menlo Park, California. He was on his way to interview a former football player for a new book. The journalism student driving him made an illegal turn.

After his death, the book project was finished by Frank Gifford. Gifford was a football player who had played in the game Halberstam was writing about. The book was titled The Glory Game.

Mentor to Other Writers

David Halberstam was a mentor to many other writers. He gave advice on how to write about difficult topics. For example, he told writer Howard Bryant to focus on the most important moments and what leaders did about them. He said, "It doesn't have to be complicated. What happened, and what did the leaders do about it? That's your book."

Awards and Honors

• 2009: Norman Mailer Prize, Distinguished Journalism
• 1994: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
• 1964: Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting

Books

• The Noblest Roman (1961) (novel)
• The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam During the Kennedy Era (1965)
• One Very Hot Day (1967) (novel)
• The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy (1968)
• Ho (1971)
• The Best and the Brightest (1972)
• The Powers That Be (1979)
• The Breaks of the Game (1981)
• The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal (1985) — about rowing
• The Reckoning (1986)
• Summer of '49: The Yankees and the Red Sox in Postwar America (1989)
• The Next Century (1991)
• The Fifties (1993)
• October 1964 (1994)
• The Children (1998)
• Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made (1999)
• War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals (2001)
• Firehouse (2002)
• The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship (2003)
• The Education of a Coach (2005)
• The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (2007)
• The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever (2008) — completed by Frank Gifford