Jack Northman Anderson (October 19, 1922 – December 17, 2005) was an American newspaper columnist, syndicated by United Features Syndicate, considered one of the founders of modern investigative journalism. Anderson won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigation on secret U.S. policy decision-making between the United States and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In addition to his newspaper career, Anderson also had a national radio show on the Mutual Broadcasting System, acted as Washington bureau chief of Parade magazine, and was a commentator on ABC-TV's Good Morning America for nine years. Among the exposés Anderson reported were the Nixon administration's investigation and harassment of John Lennon during its fight to deport Lennon; the continuing activities of fugitive Nazi officials in South America; and the savings and loan crisis. He revealed the history of a CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro and was credited for breaking the story of the Iran–Contra affair under President Reagan. He said that the scoop was "spiked" because the story had become too close to President Ronald Reagan. Early life and career Anderson was born in Long Beach, California, to Orlando and Agnes (née Mortensen) Anderson, devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Swedish and Danish descent. He grew up with his family in Salt Lake City, Utah. After high school, he served two years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the church's Southern States Mission. Anderson's aptitude for journalism appeared at the early age of 12 when he began writing the Boy Scouts Column for The Deseret News. He published his first articles in his local newspaper, The Murray Eagle. He edited his high school newspaper, The Granitian. He joined The Salt Lake Tribune in 1940, where his muckraking exploits included infiltrating polygamous Mormon fundamentalist sects. In 1944, he joined the United States Merchant Marine and served on cargo ships that went to New Guinea and India. In the spring of 1945, he resigned from the Merchant Marine, and became a war correspondent stationed in Chungking, China. Shortly after World War II ended, he was drafted into the United States Army, and served until the fall of 1946 as an armed forces newsman and radio broadcaster. While in the Army, Anderson worked on the Shanghai edition of Stars and Stripes, produced by troops and XMHA, the Armed Forces'