John Arnold Tibbits[b] (February 19, 1844 – July 22, 1893) was an American newspaper publisher and politician from Connecticut.

When the American Civil War broke out, Tibbits enlisted in the Union Army and became a major.

[c] After initially attending Bartlett High School in New London,[5] Tibbits went to Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

[4] On July 12, 1862, due to the start of the American Civil War, Tibbits enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment,[9] becoming an orderly sergeant.

[4][9] Later, after re-enlisting, he served under George Armstrong Custer with the Army of the Potomac's cavalry in the Valley campaigns of 1864,[5][8] and was promoted to captain on May 28, 1864.

[5] He served as the Government Director of the Pacific Railroad during Ulysses S. Grant's second term,[4] as well as the Collector of the Port of New London under both the Hayes and Arthur administrations.

[14][15] Tibbits was the editor and publisher of the newspaper and wrote several reports;[5] his family sold The Day to Theodore Bodenwein, a former apprentice of the paper, in 1891.

Tibbits, as a Republican, criticized Waller and his candidacy as a Democrat in the 1882 Connecticut gubernatorial election, accusing him of hypocrisy and betraying the working class.