Marianne Means

Marianne Means was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on June 13, 1934.[3][4] She was the daughter of Ernest Maynard Hansen and Else Marie Johanne (Andersen) Hansen.[3] Means attended public schools in Sioux City, where she grew up.[5] In 1956, Means graduated from the Nebraska University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree.[3][4] She received a Juris Doctor (law) degree from George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. in 1977.[4][6]

In 1956, Means started her career working as a reporter for the Dakota County Star; she used the pen names "Marianne Hansen Means" and "Marianne Means".[4] She next worked as a copy editor and wire editor for the Lincoln Journal in Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1955 to 1957.[3][4][7] She then moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1957, and took a new position as the Woman's editor for the Northern Virginia Sun in Arlington, Virginia,[3][4][6] where she supervised a staff of 15 men for two years.[8][9]

Means, in 1959, moved to Hearst Newspapers[4] and became the group's Washington bureau correspondent, covering Capitol Hill and politics.[3] The next year, she was assigned to presidential conventions and John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign . Her journalism career was boosted when she escorted Kennedy and wrote about him and his speechwriter Theodore C. Sorensen visiting Nebraska University. After Kennedy was elected president, he suggested Means be assigned to cover the White House full-time.[10] Secret Service agents and members of the press knew Means was one of President Kennedy's many lovers. She worked as White House correspondent from 1961 through 1965.[4] She was the first feale reporter to be appointed full-time coverage of all the White House activity.[6][11][12][13]

Means reported on Kennedy's trips to Latin America and Europe, the summit conference with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, the Cuban Crisis, and national crises. She was a political columnist for Hearst Newspapers and King Features Syndicate from 1965 to 1994, when she became a political reporter for The New York Times. Means reported on all the presidential campaigns from Kennedy to Bill Clinton.[13] She has also been a commentator for CBS radio, Mutual Broadcasting System, Voice of America, Post Newsweek Stations, and National Public Radio.[5][14][15]

Means covered President Kennedy's assassination and the transition to the Johnson administration. in 1974, she reported President Lyndon B. Johnson told her in confidence Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone but was motivated by the ideals of Fidel Castro.[6] She also appeared on the television programs What's My Line, Today, Meet the Press, and Tonight Show, which was hosted by Johnny Carson.[15]

In 1962 Means won the New York Newspaper Women's Club Front Page Award for the best feature writing.[3][6]

Means was associated with the National Press Foundation, International Women's Media Foundation, White House Correspondents' Association, National Press Club, Cosmos Club, Gridiron Club (president), Delta Delta Delta, Sigma Delta Chi, and Phi Beta Kappa.[16] She was given a lifetime recognition award at the Sigma Delta Chi sorority.[13]

Means was married five times. Her first marriage, in 1956, was to C. Paul Means; they divorced in 1961. In 1965, she wed Emmet Riordan (1920–2006), an official in the Executive Office of the President; they were divorced in 1969.[15][17] She was briefly married to government affairs consultant Edward H. DeHart in the early 1970s. In 1976, she married The New York Times reporter Warren Weaver Jr (died February 1997).[18] In June 1998, she married James J. Kilpatrick (1920–2010),[19] who died in 2010.[20]

Means' book Women in White House, which is about the lives of 12 first ladies, including Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was published by Random House Publishing in 1963.[15][21][3]

• Commire, Anne (2007). Dictionary of Women Worldwide: M-Z. Thomson Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-7677-3.
• Editor (1965). Editor & Publisher. Editor & Publisher.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Marquis, Who's Who (1971). Marquis Who's who 1971–1972. Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8379-0812-0.
• O'Neill, Lois Decker (1 February 1979). World records and achievements. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-12732-5.
• Read, Phyllis J. (1992). The Book of Women's Firsts. Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-40975-5. (1961–65).
• Riley, Sam G. (1995). American Newspaper Columnists. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29192-0.
• Taft, William H. (16 July 2015). Twentieth Century Journalists. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-40324-1.

• Appearances on C-SPAN