From 1919 to 1921, Pearson served with the American Friends Service Committee, directing postwar rebuilding operations in Peć, which at that time was part of Serbia.

They also wrote a comic strip, Hap Hopper, Washington Correspondent, which was drawn from 1939 to 1943 by Jack Sparling, and from 1943 onward by Al Plastino.

The movie was based on the 1943 best-selling book Betrayal from the East: The Inside Story of Japanese Spies in America by Alan Hynd.

In the latter film, Pearson (playing himself) is the only journalist who urges calm and restraint (versus the fear and paranoia evoked by his colleagues) while Washington is panicked by the escape of the alien visitor Klaatu.

The book was a collection of muckraking news items concerning key figures in public life that challenged the journalistic code of the day.

Although they were exposed as the publishers and forced to resign their positions, their books were successful enough so that Pearson and Allen could become co-authors of the syndicated column, the "Merry-Go-Round", that same year.

Also in 1932, the original book was made into a film of the same name by Columbia Pictures, directed by James Cruze, and starring Lee Tracy and Constance Cummings.

[8] After one of Pearson's more virulent columns accused Secretary of State Hull and his deputies of a conscious policy to "bleed Russia white", President Roosevelt convened a press conference in which he angrily accused Pearson of printing statements that were a lie "from beginning to end", jeopardizing United Nations unity, and committing an act of bad faith towards his own nation.

It was the first of two slapping-incidents, when General Patton, who denied the existence of combat stress reaction, struck and badly abused soldiers whom he had encountered during their evaluation at military field hospitals.

[16] In February 1946, Pearson revealed the existence of a Canadian ring of Soviet spies who had given away secret information about the atomic bomb, and he hinted that the espionage scandal might extend to the U.S. as well.

[17] Pearson also played a role in the downfall of New Jersey Congressman John Parnell Thomas, Chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, in 1948.

After revelations in Pearson's column, Thomas was investigated and later convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government for hiring friends who never worked for him, then depositing their paychecks into his personal accounts.

"[18] When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Justice Department started to investigate the case in 1947, his first annual report, which he initially had refused to produce, resulted in a deficit of $ 5,651,208.

[20] Forrestal, whom President Harry S. Truman had forced to resign, had committed suicide during his stay at the psychiatric clinic of the U. S. Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland.

The chief of psychiatrists came up with a colleague's concern "that the widespread publicity might in some way reflect upon the excellence of Navy psychiatry unless there is full understanding by everyone of necessary risks and hazards which must be faced courageously in the management of such a medical problem.

Asking for a second opportunity to elaborate further about what might have happened the night of the suicide, he only then hinted to a possible negative effect of some media reports on the mood of his patient.

The investigation finally cleared the US Naval Hospital and its staff from suspicions and stated that its doctors and wards weren't responsible for Forrestal's death.

Karr ostensibly covered home Yankee games for the Daily Worker, a paper not known for its sports readership, but his other activities remained unknown at the time.

On October 7, 1964, a month before the presidential election, Jenkins, a "stout catholic", husband and father of six children, had been arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" with another man.

In his 1964 defence of Walter Jenkins, he argued in the line of Lady Bird Johnson, who had thought about de-escalating the situation by attributing the purported offense to the exhaustion of a man who had temporarily overworked himself in the challenging time before the election.

Despite this, they were kept in the Governor's office for approximately six months and reportedly were only dropped when Reagan's right-wing backers demanded that they be fired, not because of their sex behavior, but because they were too moderate for the right wing.

"In Pearson's view, the dismissal of the two members of Reagan's staff on a pretext was part of a strategy to present the Governor and his actions in a more determined and impartial light:[36] "The presence of homos in Government was first raised as an issue by a well known Republican, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, who claimed the State Department was riddled with them.

The reason why Reagan's press secretary is now belatedly explaining the facts behind the dropping of his two assistants may well be the desire to show that Ronnie acted quickly - which he did not do.

"Hoping to protect his aspirations for a presidential candidacy, Pearson's article argued, Governor Reagan had turned a blind eye to his own government's sex scandal and had acted in his very personal interests.

[37] The best-known of his manyfold activities were: Following World War II, Drew Pearson with the support of his wife Luvie Pearson initiated the Friendship Train which on its way through the USA collected over 700 cars of food, clothing and fuel worth over $40 million in aid for "America's friends" in war-torn Europe: "Luvie was the steam that powered the train across the northern United States, and Drew fired up the southern route.

"[38] On December 19, 1947, one day after the arrival of the much-needed food, medicine and supplies in France, Pearson was awarded the French Legion of Honor, rank of Chevalier, in recognition of his charitable engagement and work.

[39] Some of his other international engagements for democracy and peace were: On August 3, 1969, Pearson was hospitalized in Washington for a viral infection that led to heart complications.

He was released to his home in Potomac, Maryland, on August 29, but suffered a heart attack on September 1, and died at the emergency room of George Washington University Hospital at the age of 71.

Pearson was awarded Norway's Medal of St. Olav, the French Legion of Honour, the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, and two honorary degrees.