[1][2] After studying at the University of Oregon and Columbia University, Neal served as a bylined reporter and columnist for the Oregon Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune, rising to the level of White House correspondent for the Tribune.
In 1999, a collection of Neal's columns, Rolling on the River, was published by the Southern Illinois University Press.
Tom McCall, and 1940 presidential candidate Wendell Willkie; he also edited collections of the letters and speeches of Harry S. Truman.
[1] Neal was found dead at his Hinsdale home on February 18, 2004, after having inhaled a fatal quantity of carbon monoxide.
[1] The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, located in Springfield, Illinois, opened to the public in 2005.