John F. Osborne

Who was John F. Osborne?

John F. Osborne was an American magazine editor and journalist.

He was born in Corinth, Mississippi, and wrote for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Associated Press before joining the National Recovery Administration, and then the Tennessee Valley Authority, as a U.S. government public relations officer during the Great Depression. He became an editor at Time–Life, eventually becoming the London-based editor, and then the Far East editor, based in Hong Kong in the 1950s. After returning to the United States, he lived in Georgetown and in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York. He later became senior editor at New Republic. He wrote "The Nixon Watch" column, which was noted for its preoccupation with the relationship between Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, followed by "The White House Watch" column. He won the Polk Award for magazine journalism in 1973. His work landed him on the first Nixon's Enemies List, a limited master list of famous people that President Nixon considered his direct political opponents. In addition to his political books, he co-authored two Time-Life series books, one about Britain, the other about the Old South.