James Russell Wiggins

ABOUT JAMES RUSSELL WIGGINS

Longtime Washington Post editor who took the paper from relative obscurity to national prominence.

Joining the Post as a managing editor in 1947, he became executive editor in 1955 and from 1960 to 1968 he led both its news and editorial sides.

At the start of the Vietnam War he used the Post's editorial pages to proclaim support for American operations in the region, saying it was necessary to oppose Communism.

He had one daughter with his wife, Mabel.

A strong supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson 's Vietnam policy, he was rewarded with an ambassadorial post to the United Nations just before his planned retirement from the post.