Horace Greeley believed in the destiny of the United States, and that belief became the guiding spirit of the New York Tribune. It became the largest and most powerful newspaper in the nation in the second half of the 19th century. Greeley became a familiar figure to every American of his time and the greatest editor in United States journalism.
His cry, "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country," pushed the frontier onward. As its huge natural resources were developed, the United States grew to be a powerful force of democracy throughout the world. Greeley was among the first to advocate labor's right to organize and women's rights. Standing for what he believed to be right often cost the Tribune subscribers, but Greeley never sacrificed principle for popularity.
Greeley had a lifelong interest in politics. With William H. Seward and Thurlow Weed, he ran the Whig party for 14 years. He suggested the name for the Republican party and helped nominate Abraham Lincoln for President. Greeley himself ran for President against Grant under the Liberal Republican party banner.
To the New York Tribune, a penny paper reflecting its editor's progressive policies. Greeley added the Weekly Tribune, which was an oracle to rural America. Greeley introduced or strengthened national political, literary, musical, scientific, and agricultural coverage, and his correspondents abroad brought his readers news of the world. His choice of talented men to work on the Tribune made it the best newspaper in the nation. He published Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman long before they became famous. Many great newspapermen learned the trade from Greeley, among them his famous assistants, Henry Jarvis Raymond, founder and editor of the New York Times, and Charles S. Dana, editor of the New York Sun.
While others in the newspaper business grew wealthy, Greeley became beloved. The father of profit sharing, he eventually relinquished all but a few shares of his stock in the paper to employees. From the birth of the Tribune, April 10, 1841, Greeley was its undisputed leader in molding the opinion of a nation.
—from the book
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