Voting Station

William L. Shirer

Please vote to return to collections.

Commentator

The Resume

    (February 23, 1904-December 28, 1993)
    Born in Chicago, Illinois
    European bureau chief for CBS radio (1934-40)
    Wrote 'Berlin Diary' (1941) and 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' (1960)

Why he might be annoying:

    After a vacation in Europe, he decided to stay rather than return to the land of 'Prohibition, fundamentalism, puritanism and Coolidgeism.'
    After being fired from CBS (1947), he blamed his former friend Edward R. Murrow, calling him 'Paley's toady.'
    He rejected conciliatory overtures from Murrow even when Murrow was dying from lung cancer.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Joseph Goebbels complained about his exposing Nazi anti-Semitism during the Berlin Olympics.
    In a journalistic coup, he reported France's surrender before the news was officially announced by Germany.
    He fled Germany when a friend warned that the Gestapo was planning to arrest him on trumped-up espionage charges.
    During the 50s, he was blacklisted after writing a friend of the court brief for the Hollywood Ten.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 27.78% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 21 Votes: 42.86% Annoying