Pierre Emil George Salinger (June 14, 1925 – October 16, 2004) was an American journalist, author and politician. He served as the ninth White House press secretary for United States presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Salinger served as a United States Senator in 1964 and as campaign manager for the 1968 Robert F. Kennedy presidential campaign.
After leaving politics, Salinger became known for his work as an ABC News correspondent, particularly for his coverage of the 1979-81 Iran Hostage Crisis; the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland; and his claims of a missile being the cause of the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
Salinger was born in San Francisco, California. His father, Herbert Salinger, was a New York City–born mining engineer, and his mother, Jehanne (née Biétry), was a French-born journalist. Salinger's mother was Catholic and his father was Jewish.
His maternal grandfather was Pierre Biétry, a member of the French National Assembly, who became known for his "vigorous" defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongly convicted of treason in 1894. Biétry died in Indochina at the age of 39.
Salinger was considered a child prodigy in music who played on a grand piano even before he learned to read. After his family moved to Canada, his parents discovered his innate talent at the piano and he was enrolled into the Toronto Conservatory of Music, where he was groomed to become a concert pianist. He recalled, "Each weekday, a tutor came to the house for three hours of academic instruction, and when she left, I was 'free' to practice the piano for four or five hours."
He gave his first public concert when he was six and was considered a concert pianist. He continued studying piano after they returned to San Francisco and was able play scores by Bach, Debussy, Beethoven and George Gershwin, whom he once met.
When he was 12, Salinger's mother told him his full-time piano studies were isolating him from society. She suggested he spend a year away from piano to engage in other social activities, including sports. He did, but never returned to his original goal of becoming a pianist and instead wanted to become a writer or journalist.
His talent and love of music carried over into his career as press secretary when, at the behest of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, he would invite musicians such as Pablo Casals and Igor Stravinsky to the White House. President Lyndon B. Johnson once had Salinger perform on the piano for 600 of his guests. "If Jackie Kennedy was the one who thought maybe America was ready for a higher culture, her ally in it or her agent was Pierre", said Richard Reeves, author of President Kennedy: Profile of Power (1993).
Salinger attended public magnet Lowell High School in San Francisco. He attended San Francisco State University (then College) from 1941 to 1943, during which time he became managing editor and columnist for the student newspaper.
Salinger left SF State to enlist in the United States Navy in July 1943 and became skipper of a submarine chaser off Okinawa during World War II. He distinguished himself during Typhoon Louise by making a daring rescue of some men stranded on a reef. For this act, he received the Navy and Marine Corps medal.
After serving with the United States Navy to the rank of Lieutenant, junior grade during World War II, he finished his studies at the University of San Francisco, earning a BS in 1947.
He began his journalism career as "Lucky Pierre", a horse racing columnist and later reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and as a contributing editor to Collier's in the 1940s and 1950s. He was a guest lecturer in journalism at Mills College from 1950 to 1955.
After Salinger researched and wrote a number of articles in 1956 about labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, Robert F. Kennedy hired him to be legal counsel for the Senate Select Committee investigating organized crime, known as the McClellan Committee. Later, Kennedy wanted him to be press secretary to his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was then a member of the Senate.
Salinger worked on John Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1960 and became one of its leading figures. He was at times described as being part of Kennedy's Kitchen Cabinet of unofficial advisers. After Kennedy was elected in 1961, he hired Salinger as his press secretary. When Kennedy became the first president to allow live television broadcasts of his news conferences, Salinger was said to have managed the press corps with "wit, enthusiasm and considerable disdain for detail", which made him a "celebrity in his own right".
He accompanied Kennedy to conferences with other world leaders, including the 1961 meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. When an aide to Khrushchev invited Salinger to Moscow, Kennedy assented to his going. Kennedy, however, had to explain to the press corps why he was sending a young and inexperienced Salinger to the Soviet Union.
In May 1962, Salinger went to Moscow alone to meet with the press. Upon his arrival, he was unexpectedly invited to spend time with Khrushchev at his dacha outside the city. They shared meals and took long hikes along country roads as they discussed politics and world events, such as the Berlin crisis. Salinger spent 16 hours over two days with Khrushchev. After their first day together, Khrushchev said, "I have had such a good time today, I think I will do it again tomorrow."
In October 1962, Salinger briefed the press about what had been learned about Soviet missiles being stationed in Cuba. He later said that Kennedy's actions during that crisis were among the most incredible things a president had ever done in the 20th century and noted how close the countries had come to nuclear war.
At the time of President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Salinger was on a plane to Tokyo with six Cabinet members, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Salinger was to attend an economic conference and start working on a February 1964 visit by Kennedy as the first United States president to visit Japan since the end of World War II.