Someone at the Daily Beast really hated Mike Wallace. It’s probably a stretch to call the piece an obit, it’s more of a sneak preview of Peter Rader’s biography of the distinguished American newsman, who died Saturday at the age of 93.
The piece leads with the revelation that Wallace’s childhood nickname was “Chinky,” which pretty much sets the tone for what follows.
Here’s what the uncredited author has to say about Wallace’s depression:
But Wallace had long suffered from depression, perhaps thanks in part to his overbearing and chronically depressed mother. He kept it a secret, but things worsened in 1984 when Gen. William Westmoreland filed a $120 million libel suit against CBS. Wallace alleged in a story that Westmoreland had altered intelligence reports and understated the strength of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. After years of seeming infallibility at the top, there was growing opinion that maybe Wallace’s “Gotcha!” journalism was going too far, and he was simply reading a predetermined script. Wallace started to doubt himself, and sank into a deep depression. [Emphases added.]
The Westmoreland case generated a backlash against Wallace, but what the story doesn’t tell you is that CBS demolished Westmoreland’s case at trial. When Westmoreland realized that he was about to lose, he reached a last-minute settlement with CBS to dismiss the case without payment, retraction or apology from the network.
The paragraph about Wallace’s suicide attempt is unsourced speculation about how he may have just wanted attention when he put himself in that coma:
The day before New Year’s Eve, 1984, Wallace wrote a suicide note at home in New York, took an overdose of sleeping pills, and fell into a coma. His private doctor couldn’t resuscitate him on the spot, and he was only revived after having his stomach pumped in hospital. “After the fact, people close to Mike have speculated that the episode was a cry for help, rather than a bona fide attempt to end his life — that Mike was far too narcissistic for that.” His wife, Mary, forced him to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with clinical depression.
Where’s the quote from? Rader’s biography? Wallace’s ex-wife? No matter where it came from, it’s sleazy as well as sloppy. Wallace was suffering from a major mental illness. Whether this was a suicide attempt or a suicidal gesture has no bearing on his character. It was a symptom of a disease.
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