William Randolph Hearst Sr. (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 with Mitchell Trubitt after being given control of The San Francisco Examiner by his wealthy father, Senator George Hearst.
After moving to New York City, Hearst acquired the New York Journal and fought a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Hearst sold papers by printing giant headlines over lurid stories featuring crime, corruption, sex, and innuendo. Hearst acquired more newspapers and created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Hearst controlled the editorial positions and coverage of political news in all his papers and magazines, and thereby often published his personal views. He sensationalized Spanish atrocities in Cuba while calling for war in 1898 against Spain. Historians, however, reject his subsequent claims to have started the war with Spain as overly extravagant.
He was twice elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States in 1904, Mayor of New York City in 1905 and 1909, and for Governor of New York in 1906. During his political career, he espoused views generally associated with the left wing of the Progressive Movement, claiming to speak on behalf of the working class.
After 1918 and the end of World War I, Hearst gradually began adopting more conservative views and started promoting an isolationist foreign policy to avoid any more entanglement in what he regarded as corrupt European affairs. He was at once a militant nationalist, a fierce anti-communist after the Russian Revolution, and deeply suspicious of the League of Nations and of the British, French, Japanese, and Russians. He was a leading supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932–1934, but then broke with FDR and became his most prominent enemy on the right. Hearst's empire reached a peak circulation of 20 million readers a day in the mid-1930s. He poorly managed finances and was so deeply in debt during the Great Depression that most of his assets had to be liquidated in the late 1930s. Hearst managed to keep his newspapers and magazines.
His life story was the main inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, the lead character in Orson Welles's film Citizen Kane (1941). His Hearst Castle, constructed on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean near San Simeon, has been preserved as a State Historical Monument and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
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Some of their strengths
William Randolph Hearst has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Ambitious, Energetic, Strong, Sensual, Honest, Perseverent, and Artistic.
Strong and Diligent
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, William Randolph Hearst is someone who is a strong, diligent, and trustworthy person who approaches life with honesty and perseverance, but who is also physical, sensual, and artistic. A person who is charismatic and resourceful.
Active and Precise
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know William Randolph Hearst well know them as someone who can be tough, active, and sharp, like a sword.
Active and Ambitious
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe William Randolph Hearst as someone who is active, ambitious, bold, and courageous.
A person who is driven and organized, is wise with money, who knows how to tell a good story, likes physical activity, and who loves learning.
Communicative and Intelligent
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, William Randolph Hearst is someone who tends to have a desire to communicate with others, either verbally, through written form, or otherwise, and to have a knack for understanding art, beauty, and aesthetics.
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Patient and Compassionate
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, William Randolph Hearst tends to be someone who approaches life with grace and compassion, and who has a powerful and commanding personality. Who can be analytical, patient, and deliberate, avoiding risks and seeking out stability instead.
Some of William Randolph Hearst's challenges
While William Randolph Hearst has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, William Randolph Hearst can be Stubborn, Idle, Difficult, Perfectionist, Impulsive, Aggressive, and Temperamental.
Stubborn and Idle
One of William Randolph Hearst's key challenges is that they are someone who can be seen as stubborn and, at times, lazy.
Impulsive and Aggressive
William Randolph Hearst is someone who can be impulsive, aggressive, and confrontational, can have difficulty listening to others, be moody and high strung, have conflict with authority figures, be too judgmental of others, and who can be overindulgent and extravagant.
Materialistic and Aggressive
Finally, William Randolph Hearst also can be materialistic, emotional, aggressive, stubborn, inconsistent, and be prone to big temper outbursts.
