Breindel, Eric, 1955-1988

Eric Breindel, political commentator and columnist, was born in 1955 to Dr. Joseph H. and Sonia of New York City. Eric attended and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. He would go on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard College. While at Harvard, he had the distinction of being elected to Phi Beta Kappa and served as the editorial chair of the Harvard Crimson newspaper. He sought to advance his education by pursuing graduate work at the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law, where he earned his J.D. in 1982.

Breindel worked as an aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s (D-N.Y.) Senate Intelligence Committee. He then went on to work for the Public Broadcasting Corporation as a correspondent. In 1986, he was made Editorial Page Editor of the New York Post . He wrote on a variety of topics and was noted for his conservative perspective. During his time at the helm of the New York Post's editorial page his convivial personality allowed him befriend many of the city’s leaders, not only in politics but in other areas as well, regardless of political persuasion or affiliation. In 1997, nearly ten years later he was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President of News Corporation and made host of Fox News Channels’ Fox News Watch .

Suffering from a variety of ailments, he died in 1998 at the age of 42. At the time of his death, Senator Moynihan of New York paid tribute to Eric in the Congressional Record for March 12, 1998. His memorial service was held at the Park Avenue Synagogue on March 9, and attended by many of the city’s most influential citizens. He was survived by his father Joseph H., then chief of obstetrics and gynecology at New York's Beth Israel Medical Center and Sonia Breindel of New York and his sister, Monique.

Although he wrote numerous editorials in the New York Post, below is provided some of his lengthier authorial efforts. In 1998, John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, compiled a collection of Breindel’s writings, titled A Passion for Truth: The Selected Writings of Eric Breindel that had appeared in that magazine.

Sources

LeDuff, Charlie "Eric Breindel, 42, Commentator and New York Post Columnist." New York Times, March 8, 1998, Obituaries. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/08/nyregion/eric-breindel-42-commentator-and-new-york-post-columnist.html

"Journalist Breindel Dies at 42: Eric M. Breindel '77 was New York Post editor, Jewish community leader." Harvard Crimson, March 20, 1998. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/3/20/journalist-breindel-dies-at-42-peric/

From the guide to the Eric Breindel Papers, undated, 1943-2007, 1988-1998, (American Jewish Historical Society)