author
Edwin Lawrence Godkin
1831–1902
Best known for founding The Nation, this sharp, independent editor helped shape American political journalism in the late 19th century. His writing pushed for reform, clean government, and serious public debate.
1 Audiobook
Reflections and Comments 1865-1895
by Edwin Lawrence Godkin
About the author
Born in Ireland in 1831, Edwin Lawrence Godkin studied at Queen’s College, Belfast, trained in law, and worked in journalism before moving to the United States in the 1850s. Early in his career he also reported on Europe during the Crimean War, experiences that gave his writing an international range.
Godkin is most closely associated with The Nation, the influential weekly he founded in 1865. He later became editor-in-chief of the New York Evening Post, where he built a reputation for rigorous opinion journalism and an unsparing, reform-minded voice in public life.
Remembered as an important editor rather than a novelist, Godkin wrote with intelligence, independence, and a deep distrust of political corruption. For readers interested in the ideas and arguments that shaped American public debate after the Civil War, he remains a revealing figure.