Robert K. Straus
{{Short description|American publisher and politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Robert K. Straus
| image = Robert K. Straus 1937.jpg
| caption = Campaign poster, 1937
| office1 = Member of the New York City Council
from Manhattan At-Large
| term_start1 = January 1, 1938
| term_end1 = December 31, 1941
| predecessor1= Constituency established
| successor1 = Multi-member district
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|10|22}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|02|24|1905|10|22}}
| death_place = Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Santa Barbara Cemetery
| nationality =
| party = Democratic
City Fusion
| otherparty =
| other_names =
| education = Harvard Business School (A.B.)
| father = Jesse Isidor Straus
| mother = Irma Nathan
| relatives = Straus family
| spouse = {{marriage|Barbara Flower|1947}}
| children = 2
| occupation = Newspaper publisher, politician
}}
Robert Kenneth Straus (October 22, 1905 – February 24, 1997) was a Jewish-American newspaper publisher and politician who served on the New York City Council from 1938 to 1941, representing Manhattan. He bought the San Fernando Valley Sun in 1958 and founded Sun Litho Inc., a commercial printer.
Biography
Robert Kenneth Straus was born on October 22, 1905, in New York City to Jesse and Irma Straus. He was a member of the Straus political family; his grandfather was Congressman and Titanic victim Isidor Straus, and his great uncles were department store owner Nathan Straus and diplomat Oscar Straus.{{cite journal |title=Robert Kenneth Straus |journal=“wholedamfam” |date=August 1997 |volume=5 |issue=2 |url=https://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/_____nwsltr897.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawIEydlleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV_TNxhFA1HG-hxH2GCaysvGIkhF0NPWoRLjugfZ_gIiUVS4sR6O6PKoPA_aem_-WeTpTbHA7MzYHbynSckZw |access-date=31 March 2025}}
File:Robert K. Straus 1931.jpg yearbook photo, 1931]]
Straus attended Harvard Business School and graduated in 1931 with an A.B. in government and economics.{{cite book |title=Harvard Business School Yearbook, 1930-31 |date=1931 |url=https://www-ancestryinstitution-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/40392_b066116-00104?pId=238074743 |publisher=Harvard Business School Yearbook Committee |location=Boston |page=105 |access-date=31 March 2025}} He worked for Franklin D. Roosevelt as governor and president, helping to run the National Recovery Administration.{{cite news |title=Robert K. Straus; Executive, Publisher |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-01-mn-33704-story.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1 March 1997 |location=Los Angeles}}
Shortly after his father's death, Straus ran for a seat on the newly-formed New York City Council in 1937. Running as a member of the City Fusion Party,{{cite news |title=Al Smith tops constitution parley slate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421532746/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20K.%20Straus%22 |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=Daily News |date=4 August 1937 |location=New York}} his campaign committee was headed by Adolf A. Berle{{cite news |title=Parties join in explaining P.R. system |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/415453345/?terms=%22Straus%22&match=1 |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=Daily News |date=16 October 1937 |location=New York}} and he was supported by mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the American Labor Party, and judge Samuel Seabury's Citizens Non-Partisan Committee.{{cite news |title=Back LaGuardia |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/420922149/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20K.%20Straus%22 |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=Daily News |date=2 November 1937 |location=New York}} During the campaign, Straus was an enthusiastic advocate for the new proportional representation system, educating voters on how it worked.{{cite news |title=Cheers End of Aldermen As 'Charlie McCarthys' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/415438508/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20K.%20Straus%22 |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=Daily News |date=27 October 1937 |location=New York}} He was ultimately elected with 65,177 votes, after shifts.{{cite news |title=Conrad Assures Democrats Of Controlling New Council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/686182640/?match=1&terms=%22Robert%20K.%20Straus%22 |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=The Brooklyn Eagle |date=1 December 1937 |location=Brooklyn}} He was re-elected in 1939, but was defeated in 1941.
During World War II, Straus worked at the Allied Force Headquarters in the United Kingdom as a government affairs specialist. In 1958, he moved his family to San Francisco, California, bought the San Fernando Valley Sun, and founded Sun Litho Inc. Sun Litho began by publishing small newspapers in California and was one of the first commercial printing companies to use phototypesetting and web offset printing to produce catalogs and other business materials.
Inspired by the teachings of Alfred Korzybski, Straus became a proponent of general semantics and advocated for its inclusion into the curriculum of Pace University. In 1985, he founded the Barbara and Robert K. Straus Thinking and Learning Center on Pace's Manhattan campus. He was an officer of the Institute of General Semantics.{{cite news |last1=Saxon |first1=Wolfgang |title=Robert Kenneth Straus, 91, Heir Who Served in Agencies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/27/nyregion/robert-kenneth-straus-91-heir-who-served-in-agencies.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=27 February 1997 |location=New York}}
Straus died on February 24, 1997, at St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
References
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External links
- {{commons-inline}}
- [https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=52304 Our Campaigns - Straus, Robert K.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Robert K.}}
Category:American people of German-Jewish descent
Category:Journalists from New York City
Category:American newspaper publishers (people)
Category:New York City Council members