John D. MacArthur
Encyclopedia
John Donald MacArthur was an American
businessman and philanthropist
who established the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
, benefactor in the MacArthur Fellowships.
. MacArthur and his many brothers and sisters grew up in poverty, the children of an itinerant Baptist
preacher and his resourceful wife. MacArthur's brother Charles MacArthur
was an American
playwright
and screenwriter
, best known as co-author
of the play
The Front Page
. MacArthur's sister-in-law
was the esteemed actress Helen Hayes
.
business
; in 1935, he acquired the Bankers Life and Casualty
Company for $2,500. In subsequent years, he built up a business empire through acquisitions of many small insurance corporation
s. In the 1950s, MacArthur signed famed broadcaster
Paul Harvey
to be the radio
spokesperson for the company.
real estate
. In 1954 for $5.5 million MacArthur bought 2600 acres (10.5 km²) of land in northern Palm Beach County
that had been owned originally by Harry Seymor Kelsey and later by Sir Harry Oakes
. The land included most of today's Lake Park
, North Palm Beach
, Palm Beach Gardens
and Palm Beach Shores
. For many years, MacArthur conducted his business affairs from a table in the Colonnades Beach Hotel, Singer Island, Florida, where he and his wife lived in their penthouse apartment
overlooking both the Atlantic ocean and Intracoastal Waterway
.
(1920-1984) and a daughter, Virginia MacArthur. The couple divorced in 1926. In 1928, MacArthur married Catherine T. MacArthur
(née Hyland) who intimately involved herself for decade
s in management
of his companies and for whom his charitable foundation is co-named.
John R. MacArthur
, the publisher of Harper's Magazine
and son of J. Roderick MacArthur, is a grandson of John D. MacArthur.
rules, the company was sold after MacArthur's death by the foundation he created. Bankers Life is today a leader in long term care insurance
in the U.S. The company is today publicly held
with a capitalization
of approximately $6 billion. It is one of the Conseco
Insurance Companies (NYSE
: "CNO").
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who established the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
, benefactor in the MacArthur Fellowships.
Early life
John Donald MacArthur was born in Pittston, PennsylvaniaPittston, Pennsylvania
Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal mining city, drawing a large portion of its labor force from European immigrants. The population was...
. MacArthur and his many brothers and sisters grew up in poverty, the children of an itinerant Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
preacher and his resourceful wife. MacArthur's brother Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...
was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, best known as co-author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of the play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
. MacArthur's sister-in-law
Sister-in-law
A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...
was the esteemed actress Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
.
Career in Illinois
MacArthur made his fortune in the insuranceInsurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
; in 1935, he acquired the Bankers Life and Casualty
Bankers Life and Casualty
Established in 1879 in Chicago, Bankers Life and Casualty Company focuses on the insurance needs of the retirement market. The nationwide company, a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group, Inc...
Company for $2,500. In subsequent years, he built up a business empire through acquisitions of many small insurance corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s. In the 1950s, MacArthur signed famed broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey Aurandt , better known as Paul Harvey, was an American radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks. He broadcast News and Comment on weekday mornings and mid-days, and at noon on Saturdays, as well as his famous The Rest of the Story segments. His listening audience was estimated, at...
to be the radio
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
spokesperson for the company.
Real estate investments in Florida
MacArthur also increased his vast fortune by heavily, and lucratively, investing in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. In 1954 for $5.5 million MacArthur bought 2600 acres (10.5 km²) of land in northern Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...
that had been owned originally by Harry Seymor Kelsey and later by Sir Harry Oakes
Harry Oakes
Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet was an American-born British Canadian gold-mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. He was murdered in 1943 under notorious circumstances in the Bahamas...
. The land included most of today's Lake Park
Lake Park, Florida
Lake Park is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,721 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 9,080.-Geography:Lake Park is located at ....
, North Palm Beach
North Palm Beach, Florida
North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,064 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 12,645...
, Palm Beach Gardens
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida. The city is in the center of a rapidly-developing area north of West Palm Beach in the northern part of the county and the South Florida metropolitan area. , the population was 48,452...
and Palm Beach Shores
Palm Beach Shores, Florida
Palm Beach Shores is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,269 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 1,511.-Geography:...
. For many years, MacArthur conducted his business affairs from a table in the Colonnades Beach Hotel, Singer Island, Florida, where he and his wife lived in their penthouse apartment
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
overlooking both the Atlantic ocean and Intracoastal Waterway
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...
.
Marriages and family
MacArthur first married the former Louise Ingals and had two children: a son, U.S. businessman and philanthropist, J. Roderick MacArthurJ. Roderick MacArthur
John Roderick MacArthur was a U.S. businessman and philanthropist. The J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, a philanthropic organization interested in Civil Liberties in the United States, and the MacArthur Justice Center at the Northwestern University School of Law are named after him. He is the...
(1920-1984) and a daughter, Virginia MacArthur. The couple divorced in 1926. In 1928, MacArthur married Catherine T. MacArthur
Catherine T. MacArthur
Catherine T. MacArthur was the wife of U.S. businessman and philanthropist John D. MacArthur and was an active participant in his businesses and philanthropies. One of the ten largest philanthropic foundations in the United States, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is named after...
(née Hyland) who intimately involved herself for decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s in management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
of his companies and for whom his charitable foundation is co-named.
John R. MacArthur
John R. MacArthur
John R. "Rick" MacArthur is an American journalist and author of books about US politics. He is the president of Harper's Magazine.- Biography :...
, the publisher of Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
and son of J. Roderick MacArthur, is a grandson of John D. MacArthur.
Legacy
To avoid conflict of interestConflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
rules, the company was sold after MacArthur's death by the foundation he created. Bankers Life is today a leader in long term care insurance
Long term care insurance
Long-term care insurance , an insurance product sold in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, helps provide for the cost of long-term care beyond a predetermined period...
in the U.S. The company is today publicly held
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
with a capitalization
Market capitalization
Market capitalization is a measurement of the value of the ownership interest that shareholders hold in a business enterprise. It is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a publicly traded company...
of approximately $6 billion. It is one of the Conseco
Conseco
Conseco , originally Security Life of Indiana, is a financial services organization based in Carmel, Indiana. Conseco's insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental health insurance products to more than 4 million customers in the United States...
Insurance Companies (NYSE
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
: "CNO").
Resources
Biography of John MacArthur. Biography of John MacArthur: Empire builder, reluctant philanthropist, relentless adversary.- McGoun, William E., Southeast Florida Pioneers: The Palm and Treasure Coasts, 1998, Sarasota: Pineapple Press, chapter 27. Compares the lives of MacArthur and Arthur Vining DavisArthur Vining DavisArthur Vining Davis was an American industrialist and philanthropist.-Early history:Arthur Vining Davis was born in Sharon, Massachusetts, the son of Perley B. Davis, a Congregational minister, and Mary Frances...
, another heavy investor in Florida real estate.