Emil Hurja

Emil Hurja
Hurja in 1938
Born
Emil Edward Hurja

(1892-01-22)22 January 1892
Crystal Falls, Michigan, U.S.
Died30 May 1953(1953-05-30) (aged 61)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesWizard of Washington
Occupation(s)Newspaper editor, political consultant

Emil Edward Hurja (January 22, 1892 – May 30, 1953) was an American newspaper editor and political consultant. Hurja was a pioneer of political opinion polling and played an advisory role during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[1][2][3] He was known as the Wizard of Washington.[4]

Biography

Hurja was born in Crystal Falls, Michigan.[5] He was one of twelve children born to Matt Hurja (originally Pitkäkangas), a shopkeeper,[4] (1863–1931) and Anna Liisa (née Keisari) Hurja (1870–1940), both of whom were immigrants from Finland to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1917, he received his A.B. at the University of Washington, where he covered the Ford Peace Expedition of 1915 as a college journalist.[4] He served as a captain in the United States Army during World War I. He worked as the newspaper editor for the Breckenridge Daily American (1921–1926) in Breckenridge, Texas.[6] He was editor of the Pathfinder magazine (1939–1945).[7]

Hurja was chief pollster of the Democratic National Committee (1932–1937) under the direction of Democratic National Committee Chairman James Farley, where he helped poll Roosevelt's campaign and the popularity of the New Deal.[8] He also provided poll analysis for the Democratic Party during elections held during 1932, 1934 and 1936. Notably, he predicted that FDR would gain seats in the 1934 United States Senate elections due to the popularity of the New Deal, bucking the conventional wisdom that the President's party tends to lose seats in the midterm.[8][1]

He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan and appeared on the cover of Time in March 1936.[9] He was a candidate in the Republican primary for the House of Representative from the 12th District of the State of Michigan (1946–1948).[10][11][12]

In 1919, he married Gudrun Andersen. He died in Washington, D.C.[5] and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[13]

Honors

He was awarded both the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.[14]

Impact and legacy

G. Elliott Morris has called Hurja the first modern pollster.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Eisinger, R. M.; Brown, J. (September 1, 1998). "Polling as a Means Toward Presidential Autonomy: Emil Hurja, Hadley Cantril and the Roosevelt Administration". International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 10 (3): 237–256. doi:10.1093/ijpor/10.3.237. ISSN 0954-2892.
  2. ^ David Greenberg. "FDR's Nate Silver". Politico Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  3. ^ "1932: Emil Hurja becomes the first political consultant to analyze polls for a presidential campaign". Miller Center of the University of Virginia. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Holli, Melvin G. (2002). The Wizard of Washington: Emil Hurja, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Birth of Public Opinion Polling. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-09547-3. ISBN 978-1-349-63449-1.
  5. ^ a b "Emil E. Hurja, 61, Dies in Capital". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, MI. May 31, 1953. p. 34. Retrieved October 19, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "About us". Breckenridge American. October 13, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  7. ^ "Emil Hurja (1892–1953)". Scandinavian Ancestry Politicians. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Morris, G. Elliott (2022). Strength in numbers : how polls work and why we need them (First ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-393-86697-1. OCLC 1272854098.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ "Democracy's Emil Hurja". Time. March 2, 1936. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  10. ^ Burton W. Folsom (July 1, 2002). "The Crystal Gazer from Crystal Falls". mackinac.org. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  11. ^ "Democracy's Emil Hurja". Time. March 2, 1936. cover. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  12. ^ "Emil Hurja 1912–1952" (PDF). F D R Library, Accession Number: 59-20. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Emil Hurja, Captain, United States Army(Arlington National Cemetery)
  14. ^ Hurja, Emil (1892–1953) Collection Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine