Six Big Moments in the History of The New Republic

Portland publisher Win McCormack bought the magazine last week. Here's what happened before that.

By Aaron Mesh

1914: Former President Teddy Roosevelt parleys with the founders of a magazine backing his Bull Moose progressive policies and funded by Gilded Age billionaires. It's called The New Republic.

1974: New-left academic Martin Peretz takes over the magazine. Peretz is liberal, hawkish and a staunch supporter of Israel. During his 33 years of ownership, TNR is nicknamed "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One."

1994: Under provocateur editor Andrew Sullivan, TNR publishes an excerpt from Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's book The Bell Curve, arguing that genetic IQ differences exist between black and white groups. The excerpt is widely denounced—including by many of the magazine's own staffers.

1998: Forbes reveals that TNR associate editor Stephen Glass fabricated stories. TNR acknowledges that 27 of Glass' 41 news features contained fictional material.

2014: Owner Chris Hughes cuts the number of annual print editions from 20 to 10 and declares TNR will become a "vertically integrated digital-media company." Most of the staff quits.

2016: Win McCormack, editor and publisher of Portland's Tin House magazine and Oregon's leading Democratic political donor, buys The New Republic.

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