William Attwood

Who was William Attwood?

William Hollingsworth Attwood was an American journalist, author, editor and diplomat.

Born in Paris, France, he received his education at Choate Rosemary Hall and Princeton University, editing The Daily Princetonian and later serving as a Princeton trustee. He served as a paratrooper in World War II.

After the war, Attwood wrote for the New York Herald Tribune and soon was transferred to the Paris bureau of the international edition. His first book, The Man Who Could Grow Hair, or Inside Andorra, was a memoir-based series of tales of his adventures in post-war Europe.

Attwood married Simone Cadgene in Paris in 1950 and the couple eventually had three children, Peter, Janet, and Susan. He published a memoir of their impressions of the changes in America upon returning, titled Still the Most Exciting Country.

Adlai Stevenson enlisted Attwood to serve as a speechwriter and advisor in both of his presidential campaigns, in 1952 and 1956, and to write other speeches in 1960. When John F. Kennedy became the 1960 Democratic nominee, Attwood joined the Kennedy campaign. Stevenson and Attwood were close friends and collaborators for years. Attwood accompanied Stevenson on a trip around the world sponsored by Look magazine, writing the regular articles about Stevenson's travels that appeared in that magazine.