Josephus Daniels, editor and publisher of the Raleigh News and Observer for fifty-four years, devoted more than fifteen years of his life to serving his country in two major capacities: he was secretary of the navy from 1913 to 1921 and ambassador to Mexico from 1933 to 1941. He managed to have some type of presidential appointment in every Democratic administration from Grover Cleveland to Harry Truman, but he always returned to his first love: the newspaper. While Daniels worked for the government, he gave himself newspaper titles: managing editor of the navy, foreign correspondent in Mexico, and Washington columnist. He brought to these jobs the same integrity and principles he used on his newspaper. Daniels was a crusader who believed that "a paper must always be for something and against something. The editorial page has got to make folks mad and glad." Through the years he fought to improve the state...