born Feb. 3, 1811, Amherst, N.H., U.S.
died Nov. 29, 1872, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. newspaper editor and political leader.
Greeley was a printer's apprentice in Vermont before moving to New York City, where he edited a literary magazine and weeklies for the Whig Party. In 1841 he founded the highly influential New York Tribune , a daily paper dedicated to reforms, economic progress, and the elevation of the masses. He edited it for the rest of his life, becoming known especially for his articulation of antislavery sentiments in the 1850s. After the onset of the American Civil War in 1861, he pursued a politically erratic course. His unrealized lifelong ambitions for public office culminated in 1872 in an unsuccessful run for president on the Liberal Republican Party ticket.