George Thayer

George Chapman Thayer Jr. (September 18, 1933 – August 13, 1973) was an American political writer, journalist, and speechwriter. Thayer was a speechwriter for several American political figures, including Nelson Rockefeller and Lawrence Coughlin, and wrote articles for The Washington Post and Harper's Magazine, among other publications.

Thayer wrote four books in his lifetime, which all focused on economic and political topics. His first book, The British Political Fringe, was published in 1965. He followed this up with The Farther Shores of Politics, which focuses on the extremes of politics in 1960s America, and The War Business, which focuses on the United States's role in the international arms industry. Thayer died of cancer in 1973, with his fourth book, Who Shakes the Money Tree?, published posthumously.

Early life and education

George Chapman Thayer Jr. was born on September 18, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were George Thayer and Mary H. Steel. His father George Thayer was a businessman with Merrill Lynch and former professional football player at the University of Pennsylvania. Thayer had five siblings, four sisters and one brother.

Thayer attended high school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He graduated in 1951. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. He studied further at the University of Geneva. He graduated from the University of Geneva in 1958 with a degree in International Business Administration. and primarily wrote on political and economic topics. He moved back to the United States and lived in Washington, D.C., from the mid-1960s.

Works upright=.7Thayer's first book, The British Political Fringe: A Profile, was published in 1965 by Anthony Blond. focusing on British political extremism, focusing on 12 major fringe movements, including fascists, socialists, nationalists, and Irish Republicans.

In 1969, his second book, The Farther Shores of Politics: The American Political Fringe Today, was published by Simon & Schuster. The book is 610 pages long, and focuses on American political extremism. To research the book he interviewed over 400 people and traveled over 16,000 miles to research. While writing the book, several of the people he was writing about threatened to harm him, both far-left and far-right, though most were friendly to him. It was published in the UK the next year by Allen Lane The Penguin Press.

His third book, The War Business: The International Trade in Armaments, was published in 1969 by Simon & Schuster in a 417-page edition. He became interested in the subject matter following an assignment for CBS. The book took him roughly three years to write. In the book, Thayer argued in the book that the United States served as the world's "largest arms dealer" and provides the weapons for conflicts globally, arming rebels and foreign governments.

Personal life and death In July 1972, Thayer became engaged to Carol Lytle Edgerton. On September 9, 1972, they married in an Episcopal ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Thayer died on August 13, 1973, in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown University Hospital, from cancer. He was 39. He had previously undergone two surgeries related to cancer. He was buried in the Church of the Redeemer Cemetery in Philadelphia.