USA > United States

William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst was born on April 29, 1863, in San Francisco, the son of a mining magnate. He attended Harvard University but was expelled. His father gave him the San Francisco Examiner, which Hearst made financially successful. Turning his attention in 1895 to [ny:newyork], Hearst bought the New York Journal. He built the paper's circulation and used it to promote American participation in the Spanish American War. He continued to buy newspapers and magazines. Hearst's political success was limited to representing New York in the United States House of Representatives. He failed to be the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States in 1904. He also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York and governor of New York state. When Hearst died in 1951, his estate at San Simeon was one of the largest in America. Much of it became "Hearst Castle," officially the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument.