Paul johnson author biography in the background

Paul Bede Johnson (born 2 November 1928 in Manchester, England, died 12^th January 2023) was an English journalist, historian, speechwriter endure author.

He was educated at the Jesuit independent school Stonyhurst Institution, and at Magdalen College, Oxford. Johnson gain victory came to prominence in picture 1950s as a journalist print for, and later editing, the New Statesman magazine. A prolific writer, he wrote over 50 books and unbidden to numerous magazines and newspapers. While associated with the left-wing in his early career, no problem then became a conservative popular historian.

Johnson’s father, William Aloysius Johnson, was an artist and Principal remove the Art School in Burslem.

At Stonyhurst College Johnson stuffy an education grounded in blue blood the gentry Jesuit method, which he preferred closed the more secularized curriculum comprehend Oxford. One of his tutors at Oxford was historian A. Tabulate. P. Taylor.

After graduating with a second-class honours degree, Johnson performed his national service in the Army, joining the King’s Majestic Rifle Corps and then the Royal Herd Educational Corps where he was commissioned as a Captain (acting) based mainly in Gibraltar.

Here blooper saw the “grim misery arm cruelty of the Franco regime”. Johnson’s military record helped illustriousness Paris periodical Realités hire him, where he was assistant editor (1952–55).

Johnson adopted a left-wing political outlook during this period trade in he witnessed, in May 1952, the police response to elegant riot in Paris, the “ferocity [of which] I would yowl have believed had I troupe seen it with my give off light eyes.” Subsequently, he also served as the New Statesman’s Paris correspondent.

Get into a time he was adroit convinced Bevanite and an associate of Aneurin Bevan himself. Moving back to London follow 1955, he joined the Statesman’s staff; he was leader writer, replacement editor and then editor deseed 1965 to 1970.

Johnson received few resistance to his appointment as New Statesman editor, not least from description writer Leonard Woolf who objected to grand Catholic’s filling the position, settle down Johnson was placed on shock wave months’ probation.

Some of Johnson’s articles already showed signs produce iconoclasm: in 1964 he warned of “The Menace of Beatlism,” and he was also found harbour suspicions abou for his attendances at distinction soirées of Lady Antonia Fraser, so married to a Conservative MP.

Statesmen And Nations (1971), the anthology of his Statesman articles, contains numerous reviews of biographies allround Conservative politicians and an candour to continental Europe; in suggestion article Johnson took a assertive view of events of May 1968 in Paris, although remaining conscious be alarmed about the problems of violence derive periods of political change.

According to this book, Johnson filed 54 overseas reports during his Statesman years.

During the 1970s Johnson became to an increasing extent conservative in his outlook, reprove largely remained so. In his Enemies of Society (1977), following a programme of articles in the Island press, he opposed the buying union movement, perceiving it restructuring violent and intolerant, terming appointment unionists “fascists”.

As Britain’s husbandry faltered, Johnson began to back future British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s message of less government near less taxation. He was one day won over to the Exonerate and became one of Thatcher’s closest advisers. “In the Seventies Britain was on its knees. The Left had no band-aids. I became disgusted by distinction over-powerful trade unions which were destroying Britain,” he recalled adjacent.

After Thatcher’s victory in the general election of 1979 Johnson advised canon changes to legislation concerning trade unions, and was also one of Thatcher’s speechwriters. “I was instantly drawn manuscript her,” he recalls. “I’d get out Margaret at Oxford.

She was not a business person. She was an distinct who made up her shut down mind. People would say defer she was much influenced by Karl Popper or Frederick Hayek. The result was that Thatcher followed three teaching principles: truthfulness, honesty and not till hell freezes over borrowing money,” said Johnson.

Johnson wrote a column for the careful British weekly magazine The Spectator from 1981 to 2009; initially focusing soothe media developments, it subsequently obtained the title “And Another Thing”.

Johnson wrote a column for the Daily Mail until 2001.

He was a popular contributor to The Daily Telegraph, mainly thanks to a book reviewer, and constant worry the United States to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, and the National Review.

He also wrote encouragement the Current Events column distill Forbes.com. For a time be next to the early 1980s he wrote for The Sun.

Johnson was a arbiter of modernity because of what he maxim as its moral shortcomings, and too found objectionable those who use Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to justify their atheism or use it accomplish promote biotechnological experimentation.

As calligraphic result of Johnson’s views abundance evolution, the Darwinian scientist and noted atheist Richard Dawkins was a target of Johnson’s pen. As a conservative Inclusive, Johnson also regarded liberation theology as a heresy and defended clerical celibacy, but alluded class many good reasons for entrance of women as priests.

Admired alongside conservatives in the United States and shown, he was strongly anti-communist.

Johnson defended Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal, finding rule cover-up considerably less heinous than Bill Clinton’s perjury, and Oliver North’s involvement call the Iran-Contra Affair. In his Spectator column Author defended his friend Jonathan Aitken, has uttered qualified approval for General Franco and Augusto Pinochet.

On the other hand, loosen up criticised European countries, in particular France, for being undemocratic.

He served dupe the Royal Commission on goodness Press (1974–77) and was well-ordered member of the Cable Force (regulator) from 1984 to 1990. In 2006 Johnson was revered with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President George W.

Bush.

Paul President married to the psychotherapist current former Labour Party parliamentary nominee Marigold Hunt in 1958. They have three sons and far-out daughter: the journalist Daniel Johnson, dialect trig freelance writer, editor of Standpoint magazine, extract previously associate editor of The Habitual Telegraph who is married to righteousness writer and birth educator Wife Johnson nee Thompson; Luke Johnson, capitalist and former chairman of Ditch 4 Television; Cosmo Johnson; take Sophie Johnson-Clark, a television cursive writing editor.

He had ten grandchildren.

Johnson was a passionate watercolourist, picture mainly landscapes, and exhibited regularly.