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<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst - David Nasaw - Google Books</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/books/css/_a33f2a89320471e58c940b9287b9d4eb/kl_viewport_kennedy_full_bundle.css" type="text/css" /><link rel="stylesheet"href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Product+Sans:wght@400"><link rel="canonical" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Chief.html?id=ET4uTW2k-9QC"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Chief.html?id=ET4uTW2k-9QC"/><meta name="title" content="The Chief"/><meta name="description" content="The definitive and "utterly absorbing" biography of America's first news media baron based on newly released private and business documents (Vanity Fair).In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of William Randolph Hearst, famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane, and whose influence was nearly as great as many world leaders. A brilliant business strategist, Hearst controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including twenty-eight newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and thirteen magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power.The son of a gold miner, Hearst underwent a public metamorphosis from Harvard dropout to political kingmaker; from outspoken populist to opponent of the New Deal; and from citizen to congressman.?With unprecedented access to Hearst's personal and business papers, Nasaw details Heart's relationship with his wife Millicent and his romance with Marion Davies; his interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt; and his acquaintance with movie giants such as Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Irving Thalberg. An "absorbing, sympathetic portrait of an American original," The Chief sheds light on the private life of a very public man (Chicago Tribune)."/><meta property="og:title" content="The Chief"/><meta property="og:type" content="book"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="Google Books"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=ET4uTW2k-9QC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71M_4psNJkBtEm5ym5ij0WIq57k2SLWz_Aphhsj8RDg3D5YJpLl2K3Q05pJbjhyJ9j2mbET745BStr5Qs-eNQUvFTHV2bgXMDTnWwNEQk4cWVmX2cv8FGjPXWfk_aZou5DH1XwU"/><link rel="image_src" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=ET4uTW2k-9QC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71M_4psNJkBtEm5ym5ij0WIq57k2SLWz_Aphhsj8RDg3D5YJpLl2K3Q05pJbjhyJ9j2mbET745BStr5Qs-eNQUvFTHV2bgXMDTnWwNEQk4cWVmX2cv8FGjPXWfk_aZou5DH1XwU"/><script></script><style>#gbar,#guser{font-size:13px;padding-top:1px !important;}#gbar{height:22px}#guser{padding-bottom:7px !important;text-align:right}.gbh,.gbd{border-top:1px solid #c9d7f1;font-size:1px}.gbh{height:0;position:absolute;top:24px;width:100%}@media all{.gb1{height:22px;margin-right:.5em;vertical-align:top}#gbar{float:left}}a.gb1,a.gb4{text-decoration:underline !important}a.gb1,a.gb4{color:#00c !important}.gbi .gb4{color:#dd8e27 !important}.gbf .gb4{color:#900 !important} #gbar { padding:.3em .6em !important;}</style></head><body class=""><div id=gbar><nobr><a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tab=pw">Search</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/imghp?hl=en&tab=pi">Images</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://maps.google.com.sg/maps?hl=en&tab=pl">Maps</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://play.google.com/?hl=en&tab=p8">Play</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.youtube.com/?tab=p1">YouTube</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://news.google.com/?tab=pn">News</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?tab=pm">Gmail</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://drive.google.com/?tab=po">Drive</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.google.com.sg/intl/en/about/products?tab=ph"><u>More</u> »</a></nobr></div><div id=guser width=100%><nobr><span id=gbn class=gbi></span><span id=gbf class=gbf></span><span id=gbe></span><a target=_top id=gb_70 href="https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=print&continue=https://books.google.com.sg/books%3Fid%3DET4uTW2k-9QC%26pg%3DPA77%26lpg%3DPA77%26output%3Dhtml_text%26hl%3Den&hl=en&ec=GAZACg" class=gb4>Sign in</a></nobr></div><div class=gbh style=left:0></div><div class=gbh style=right:0></div><div class="kd-appbar"><h2 class="kd-appname"><a href="/books">Books</a></h2><div class="kd-buttonbar left" id="left-toolbar-buttons"><a id="appbar-view-print-sample-link" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=ET4uTW2k-9QC&printsec=frontcover&output=html_text&source=gbs_vpt_read"></a><a id="appbar-view-ebook-sample-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-patents-prior-art-finder-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-patents-discuss-this-link" href="" data-is-grant=""></a><a id="appbar-read-patent-link" href=""></a><a id="appbar-download-pdf-link" href=""></a></div><div class="kd-buttonbar right" id="right-toolbar-buttons"></div><script>(function() {var div = document.getElementById('left-toolbar-buttons');var links = div.getElementsByTagName("a");for (var i = links.length - 1; 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