Founder and chairman of the Columbia Broadcasting System, William S. Paley (1901-1990) was called alternately a broadcast programmer par excellence, an impresario, a super salesman, and the father of modern broadcasting. Because of his instinctive understanding of what appeals to the popular taste, Paley was considered by many to be a genius of mass entertainment programming.

William S. Paley was born the son of a prosperous cigar manufacturer in Chicago on September 28, 1901. From an early age his father groomed him to take over the family business, the Congress Cigar Company. Determined that William would be prepared for his future role, Sam Paley sent his son to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania and then had him work at every level within the company. William Paley quickly proved himself to be a knowledgeable tobacco buyer and a gifted salesman. While still a teenager...