John Franklin Carter

"Jay Franklin" redirects here. For the baseball pitcher, see Jay Franklin (baseball).

John Franklin Carter a.k.a. Jay Franklin a.k.a. Diplomat a.k.a. Unofficial Observer (1897–1967) was an American journalist, columnist, biographer and novelist. He notably wrote the syndicated column, "We the People", under his pen name Jay Franklin. He wrote over 30 books on a variety of subjects, including his detective novels about the character Dennis Tyler. In his column, he was one of the few who predicted Truman's victory in the 1948 presidential election.

John Franklin Carter
Born	(1897-04-27)April 27, 1897 Fall River, Massachusetts United States
Died	November 28, 1967(1967-11-28) (aged 70) Washington, D.C. United States
Nationality	American
Other names	Jay Franklin Diplomat Unofficial Observer
Education	Yale University
Occupations	Journalist columnist novelist biographer speech writer
Employer(s)	London Daily Chronicle New York Times Liberty Vanity Fair Harry S. Truman
Known for	We The People (1936–1948)
Parent	Rev. John Franklin Carter

Biography

Carter was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on April 27, 1897, as one of seven children of The Rev. John Franklin Carter. He attended Yale University, where he served as chairman of campus humor magazine The Yale Record^[1]

He left Yale early to serve as a representative of the Williamstown Institute of Politics in Italy. Afterwards, he became the Rome correspondent for the London Daily Chronicle and the New York Times.

In 1928, Carter began working for the State Department as an economic specialist.

In 1935, he was hired by Rexford Tugwell as information chief for the newly created Resettlement Administration.^[2] The documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz worked under his supervision.^[3]

Carter then became a correspondent for the magazines Liberty and Vanity Fair.

In 1941, Carter was appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to conduct investigation into the loyalty of Japanese American communities on the West Coast of the United States. Carter hired Curtis B. Munson to compile the Report on Japanese on the West Coast of the United States.^[4] Carter incompletely summarized Muson's report and sent it to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on November 7, 1941, around two months before the full report reached FDR's desk on January 9, 1942. The summarized version focused on the disloyalty of Japanese Americans and inaccurately represented the full report.^[5][6]

He wrote the syndicated column, "We, The People" from 1936 to 1948 under his pen name "Jay Franklin". It chronicled the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Truman Administrations.

In 1948, Carter worked as a speech writer for Harry S. Truman.

Carter died in Washington, D.C., on November 28, 1967, at the age of 70. His books The New Dealers (1934) and American Messiahs (1935) remain valuable sources for historians of the New Deal era.

Works

Detective novels written as "Diplomat"

• Murder in the Embassy (1930)
• Murder in the State Department (1930)
• Scandal in the Chancery (1931)
• The Corpse on the White House Lawn (1932)
• Death in the Senate (1933)
• Slow Death at Geneva (1934)
• The Brain Trust Murder (1935)

Partial list of other novels

• The Rat Race (1950)
• Champagne Charlie (1950)

Political Narrative written as "Unofficial Observer"

• The New Dealers (1934)
• American Messiahs (1935)

Non-fiction

• Remaking America. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942. Also available from Hathi Trust.

References

1. Wilder, Thornton N., Stephen Vincent Benet, John Franklin Carter, Jr. et al., ed. (April, 1918) "Memorabilia Yalensia". The Yale Literary Magazine. New Haven: Yale Lit. p. 355.
2. Dyer MacCann, Richard (1973). The People's Films: A Political History of U.S. Government Motion Pictures. New York: Hastings House. p. 67. ISBN 0-8038-5795-0.
3. Dyer MacCann, Richard (1973). The People's Films: A Political History of U.S. Government Motion Pictures. New York: Hastings House. p. 61. ISBN 0-8038-5795-0.
4. Niiya, Brian (15 June 2014). ""Munson Report."". Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
5. Schlund-Vials, Cathy J.; Wong, Kevin Scott; Chang, Jason Oliver, eds. (2017). Asian America: a primary source reader. New Haven London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-19544-6.
6. Robinson, Greg (2001). By order of the president: FDR and the internment of Japanese Americans. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University press. ISBN 978-0-674-00639-3.

• "John Franklin Carter, 70, Dies; Wrote Column as Jay Franklin; Friend of a President". The New York Times. 1967-11-29. p. 47. Retrieved 2008-04-30.(subscription required)
• "Milestones: Dec. 8, 1967". Time. 1967-12-08. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-30.(subscription required)
• Ginny Kilander (March 2005). "University of Wyoming American Heritage Center Guide to Journalism Resources" (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
• Simkin, John. "John Franklin Carter". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
• Tuck, Donald H. (1978). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 362. ISBN 0-911682-22-8.

For more on Carter's role in war-time intelligence, see

• Mauch, Christof (2005). The Shadow War Against Hitler: The Covert Operations of America's Wartime Secret Intelligence Service. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 48–51.

External links

• John Franklin Carter papers at the American Heritage Center
• John Franklin Carter correspondence at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY and online via U.S. Archives
• Works by John Franklin Carter at Project Gutenberg
• Works by John Franklin Carter at Faded Page (Canada)
• Works by John Franklin Carter at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)