William Vincent Shannon was a member of the editorial board of the New York Times and U.S. ambassador to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 under President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 (1977-81).

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

, he earned an A.B. degree from Clark University

Clark University

Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...

 in 1947 and an M.A. from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1948.

He was a Washington correspondent and columnist for the New York Post

New York Post

The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...

from 1951 to 1964. From 1964 he was on the editorial board of the New York Times. He also authored the books The American Irish: A Political and Social Portrait (1964, ISBN 0-87023-689-X), The Heir Apparent (1967) and They Could Not Trust the King (1974). He was coauthor of The Truman Merry-Go-Round (1950) and published many articles.

Shannon served on the board of directors of the American Irish Foundation. In 1975 he received the Gold Medal of the Éire Society of Boston

Eire Society of Boston

The Eire Society of Boston was founded in 1937 to promote Irish culture and to bring it to a wider audience particularly in the United States. Each year the Society bestows the Gold Medal Award to individuals they feel have greatly contributed to their goals...

 for service to literature. He was an associate fellow of Yale University's Morse College from 1966, and in 1961-62 was fellow-in-residence at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions

Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions

The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an important think tank from 1959 to 1977, declining in influence thereafter. The Center held discussions in a variety of areas that it hoped would influence public deliberation...

 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Shannon died in 1988 of lymphoma

Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...

, at age 61.

External links

• Shannon's obituary
• Some biographical information from The American Presidency Project