The American journalist Harrison E. Salisbury (1908-1993) was well-known for his reporting and books on the Soviet Union. A distinguished correspondent and editor for the New York Times, he was the first American reporter to visit Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

Born November 14, 1908, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Harrison E. Salisbury was the son of Percy and Georgiana Salisbury. His family was descended from English emigrants to the United States in 1640. Departing from a long line of craftsmen and farmers, Salisbury's grandfather, after whom he was named, was a doctor in Minneapolis. His father had a harder life, working for a company which made bags for the flour milling industry. Salisbury grew up in a neighborhood with a large concentration of poor Russian Jews and, with one foot in that culture, he eventually established his reputation as a writer on Russian affairs.

The Cub Reporter

A solitary child, Salisbury spent...