Anthony Harry Leviero (November 23, 1905 – September 3, 1956) was an American journalist who spent over two decades as a reporter for The New York Times.
"For most of them," he wrote about new Army recruits at Fort McClellan, Alabama, "learning to be a good soldier is accomplished with surprisingly few jolts.
[1] Returning to the Times in 1946 as a Washington correspondent, he followed President Truman around the country "on a ski lift, train, airplane, seaplane, tender, destroyer, crash boat, bus, jeep, ferry, and by foot,"[2] and wrote many major stories about landmark speeches and actions by Truman, including his 1948 State of the Union address,[4] his introduction of the military draft,[5] his multiple refusals to cut Marshall Plan funds,[6][7] his June 1948 warning to the Soviets that they had the entire "free world" ranged against them,[8] and his April 1949 assertion that he would not hesitate to use the atomic bomb again if necessary.
[11] In August 1949, Leviero wrote for the Times Magazine about the presidential press conference, calling it "a great institution" that had become "a factor in our checks-and-balances system of government.
[15] In a memorial article, the editors of the Times praised him for his "objectivity," "dedication," "industry," "unswerving honesty," and "loyalty to his paper."
On March 9, 1957, Leviero filed an article acknowledging this fact and calling Darnton's death "perhaps the first of a number of tragic incidents during the war in which American aircraft mistakenly attacked our own troops."
He was recognized for an April 21, 1951, article in which he disclosed "the record of conversations between President Truman and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur at Wake Island in their conference of October, 1950.
"[18] Truman had reportedly "arranged for a copy of the Wake Conference proceedings to be leaked" to Leviero, because he wanted the public to know that the general "was not the infallible hero he was held up to be.
"[19] As Leviero reported, "General MacArthur expressed belief that organized resistance would end in the whole Korean peninsula by last Thanksgiving Day.
'"[2] After the announcement of the award, Walter Bedell Smith, director of the CIA, wrote a letter of congratulations to Leviero: "If it were not the Wake Island piece, it might have been any one of several others; your by-line is synonymous with Pulitzer prize copy.