the generation of Americans who had lived through the Great Depression, only to confront the horrors of World War II. In the 1976 edition of the book, Sevareid wrote, "It was a lucky stroke of timing to have been born and lived as an American in this last generation. It was good fortune to be a journalist in Washington, now the single news headquarters in the world since ancient Rome. But we are not Rome; the world is too big, too varied." Sevareid always considered himself a writer first and often felt uneasy behind a microphone and even less comfortable on television. Nonetheless, he worked extensively for CBS News on television for decades after the war. During the middle and the end of 1950s, Sevareid found himself on television as the host and science reporter of CBS's Conquest. He also served as the head of the CBS Washington bureau from 1946 to 1954 and was one of the early critics of Joseph McCarthy's anticommunism tactics. Investigated by FBI Internal FBI documents declassified in 1996 show that the agency took an active interest in Sevareid's reporting and activities in the 1940s and the early 1950s. A March 1953 document, "Security Information", is one of several to chronicle Sevareid's activities during the 1940s. It refers to unsubstantiated reports that Sevareid, while he was attending the University of Minnesota in 1941, was alleged to have associated with communists. The files also alleged that while working for the school newspaper at the university, Sevareid participated in an active campaign against the ROTC. The files also noted his involvement in an awards banquet held by the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, which had been designated a communist organization by Executive Order 9835. The files note a May 17, 1945, report in the Daily People's World, which stated Sevareid was a scheduled speaker at the Committee's banquet. The FBI called the Daily People's World a West Coast communist newspaper and claimed that Sevareid was identified as a radio commentator in its reports. Other information in the FBI files noted a May 19, 1945 "newspapermen's forum," "The Free Press," was held at the California Labor School, and Sevareid participated. In two separate 1948 reports, Attorney General Tom C. Clark called the California Labor School "a subversive and Communist organization." The files included information that Sevareid's name was listed as one of those who was willing to raise funds