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Jules Witcover, Political Reporter and Columnist, Dies at 98

NYT > Business > Media · Robert D. McFadden · last updated

Jules Witcover, a storied shoe-leather political reporter and syndicated columnist who became a Washington institution covering presidential races and political affairs for more than 68 years in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and other newspapers and in a shelf of books, died on Saturday at his home in Washington. He was 98.

The death was confirmed by his daughter Amy Witcover-Sandford.

From the days of manual typewriters to the age of laptop computers, Mr. Witcover interpreted America’s political scene as an analyst and eyewitness to history. He swapped tales with presidents; covered presidential campaigns, beginning in 1960; recorded the rise and fall of Richard M. Nixon; and was steps away when a gunman killed Senator Robert F. Kennedy in a Los Angeles hotel in 1968.