Media Vs. Military

Peter Andrews relates that Westbrook Pegler “tried” to get an interview with Gen. John J. Pershing and that Pershing was rudely brief with Pegler during the interview. Donald Smythe, Pershing’s biographer, relates the incident as follows:

“A very busy man, [Pershing] disliked wasting time in pointless talk or fruitless digressions. He also resented being interrupted. When the newspaperman Westbrook Pegler walked in unannounced one day and asked for a statement, he got one. ‘Pegler, get the hell out of my office!’”

Perhaps Pegler should have asked for an interview rather than a statement; he got no more and no less than he deserved.