(JTA) — Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who was publisher of The New York Times for more than three decades, has died.
Sulzberger died Saturday at his home in New York following a long illness. He was 86.
He was publisher for 34 years beginning in 1963. His son Arthur Sulzberger Jr. took over from him as publisher in 1992 and as chairman in 1997.
The Sulzberger family had bought the newspaper in 1896.
The elder Sulzberger made the decision in 1971 to publish the classified Pentagon Papers, which offered a Defense Department history of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The documents were published after a U.S. Supreme Court challenge by the Nixon administration.
The Times won 31 Pulitzer Prizes during Sulzberger’s tenure. Sulzberger also helped boost subscriptions and annual revenue.
Sulzberger, who was known by the nickname "Punch," served in the U.S. Marines and was a graduate of Columbia College.
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