Godkin, Edwin Lawrence (1831–1902)

Irish-born US editor and writer on political affairs who founded the liberal weekly magazine The Nation in 1865.

Educated in Ireland, Godkin studied law but chose a journalistic career, covering the Crimean War for the London Daily News and The New York Times. Immigrating to the USA in 1856, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1858. During the American Civil War he again served as a correspondent for the London Daily News and in 1865 founded his own political journal, The Nation. In it, Godkin crusaded for national reform and progressive causes. After selling The Nation in 1881 to the New York Evening Post, Godkin continued to write on national affairs.