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In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Paley & the Birth of Modern Broadcasting
"He is to American broadcasting as Carnegie was to steel, Ford to automobiles, Luce to publishing and Ruth to baseball," wrote The New York Times of William S. Paley---the man who built CBS, the "Tiffany Network." Sally Bedell Smith's IN ALL HIS GLORY takes a hard look at Paley and the perfect world he created for himself, revealing the extraordinary complexity of the man who let nothing get in the way of his vast ambitions. Tracing his life from Chicago, where Paley was born to a family of cigar makers, to the glamorous haunts of Manhattan, Smith shows us the shrewd, demanding egoist, the hedonist pursuing every form of pleasure, the corporate strongman famous for his energy and ruthlessness. Drawing on highly placed CBS sources and hundreds of interviews, and with a supporting cast of such glittering figures as Truman Capote, Slim Keith, Jock Whitney, Ted Turner, David Sarnoff, Brooke Astor and a parade of Paley's humiliated heirs, IN ALL HIS GLORY is a richly textured story of business, power and social ambition.
784 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Sally Bedell Smith
15 books328 followersAuthor of six biographies: Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch (Random House 2102); For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years (Random House 2007); Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House (Random House 2004); Diana In Search of Herself: Portrait of a Troubled Princess (Random House 2004); Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman (Simon & Schuster, 1996); In All His Glory: The Life and Times of William S. Paley and the Birth of Modern Broadcasting (Simon & Schuster, 1990).
Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair since 1996.
Previously cultural news reporter for The New York Times, staff writer for TV Guide, and reporter-researcher for Time Magazine.
Awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982; fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University from 1986 to 1987.
B.A. from Wheaton College and M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair since 1996.
Previously cultural news reporter for The New York Times, staff writer for TV Guide, and reporter-researcher for Time Magazine.
Awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982; fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University from 1986 to 1987.
B.A. from Wheaton College and M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 22, 2012
This is a long (at slightly over 600 pages), but very readable expose of the life of CBS mogul William S. Paley. As the author states at the outset he was a very complicated man filled with contradictions.
We follow him as he raised CBS to be a nationwide radio enterprise and then make the transition to TV. In this Paley was less innovator and much more a juggling entrepreneur – listening too and balancing several ideas before finally taking the plunge. Inevitably, much to the annoyance of his business associates, he would usually take the credit for the success of various operations which were initiated by others. And woe to those who were even mildly involved in a less than successful business activity. Even if Paley was warned beforehand of the dubious nature of the project, he would search for, and blame, the necessary scapegoats.
Reading through the book can be at times like an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” with lists of jewellery, furniture and other luxurious items. There is much in this book on Paley’s two wives, both of whom were entirely different. Frank Stanton, who was a dedicated President of CBS for over 25 years, was treated callously by Paley. The same could be said for William L. Shirer. Edward Murrow and Paley were great friends for a time, but this relationship too crumbled. Nothing lasted forever with Paley. He comes off as self-centered – unable to share the limelight with anyone. He was a collector – of enterprises, money, women and art. At the end of the book it was very hard to find the emotional heart of the man.
There are some things missing in this book. Paley’s parents disappear from view once he is married to his first wife. We have no idea how they related with his first and second wife, or with their grand children.
There is nothing on how CBS coped with the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Nothing on the woman’s movement and how this affected television. And very little on the Vietnam War, which was central to American living rooms during the era. The Smothers Brothers show was cancelled by CBS due to its controversial nature, but this is also not broached.
However, the portrait of Bill Paley “the man” and those surrounding him during his long life is incomparable and complete. Paley died at the time this book was published in October 1990.
A favourite quote from page 579 (my edition): “The stealthiest assassin was, of course, Bill Paley, who always kept a silencer on his weapon.” You just never knew how, where and when Paley would come at you!
We follow him as he raised CBS to be a nationwide radio enterprise and then make the transition to TV. In this Paley was less innovator and much more a juggling entrepreneur – listening too and balancing several ideas before finally taking the plunge. Inevitably, much to the annoyance of his business associates, he would usually take the credit for the success of various operations which were initiated by others. And woe to those who were even mildly involved in a less than successful business activity. Even if Paley was warned beforehand of the dubious nature of the project, he would search for, and blame, the necessary scapegoats.
Reading through the book can be at times like an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” with lists of jewellery, furniture and other luxurious items. There is much in this book on Paley’s two wives, both of whom were entirely different. Frank Stanton, who was a dedicated President of CBS for over 25 years, was treated callously by Paley. The same could be said for William L. Shirer. Edward Murrow and Paley were great friends for a time, but this relationship too crumbled. Nothing lasted forever with Paley. He comes off as self-centered – unable to share the limelight with anyone. He was a collector – of enterprises, money, women and art. At the end of the book it was very hard to find the emotional heart of the man.
There are some things missing in this book. Paley’s parents disappear from view once he is married to his first wife. We have no idea how they related with his first and second wife, or with their grand children.
There is nothing on how CBS coped with the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Nothing on the woman’s movement and how this affected television. And very little on the Vietnam War, which was central to American living rooms during the era. The Smothers Brothers show was cancelled by CBS due to its controversial nature, but this is also not broached.
However, the portrait of Bill Paley “the man” and those surrounding him during his long life is incomparable and complete. Paley died at the time this book was published in October 1990.
A favourite quote from page 579 (my edition): “The stealthiest assassin was, of course, Bill Paley, who always kept a silencer on his weapon.” You just never knew how, where and when Paley would come at you!
April 3, 2023
An exhaustive and sometimes exhausting bio of the CBS titan (who wasn’t quite, as Smith reveals, the founder - he bought the company from someone else, though he certainly built it, often aggressively). All that stuff about his Tiffany tastes and firm ethics? Smith crushes those tales, which were gospel when I was studying comm in grad school. There’s a little too much about his family for my taste - when the book talks about his children, it sags, though it does get across the point that he was no father of the year.
But overall, what an amazing job. Paley comes across as brilliant but needy, especially as CBS became the leading TV network, and though I’m sure intimates can argue about the importance of his longtime No 2, Frank Stanton, there’s no question that Paley shot himself in the foot by sidelining him and several other heirs apparent.
Well worth the reading investment.
But overall, what an amazing job. Paley comes across as brilliant but needy, especially as CBS became the leading TV network, and though I’m sure intimates can argue about the importance of his longtime No 2, Frank Stanton, there’s no question that Paley shot himself in the foot by sidelining him and several other heirs apparent.
Well worth the reading investment.
April 2, 2024
Meticulous and smoothly written account of the broadcasting mogul's life. Not unusually for a wealthy man, he was decidedly selfish in his private life and his needs always took precedence over those of his wives and children. In those chapters covering his business life the focus is solidly on boardroom maneuvering and the ins and outs of the news division; the stars and shows that made CBS a ratings juggernaut for decades get little if any attention. One ultimately gets the feeling that Paley was always a radio man at heart, never entirely comfortable with television. Highly recommended, give it 4.5 stars.
August 14, 2026
As an employee of CBS in the sixties when William Paley was the chairman and I often received his memos, I couldn't help but be interested in the more than four decades when he reigned supreme. Especially now that CBS is undergoing so many concerns, I wrote an entry to my Substack blog, My People, about the man, and even, though there was plenty of material about the way he conducted his business, I enjoyed going deeper first listening to an interview with Sally Bedell Smith on C-Span and then trying to tackle this book about him. My takeaway is that Paley had a powerful influence on the industry and to the end was his own man. I can't say I admired him on a moral level, but I can say that he did achieve a name in history.
May 16, 2022
Quite the book about CBS and it’s founder
An interesting and quite detailed history of not only Bill Paley but CBS. I found it at times a bit overly descriptive of all the different going ones at CBS
An interesting and quite detailed history of not only Bill Paley but CBS. I found it at times a bit overly descriptive of all the different going ones at CBS
July 30, 2025
Long winded & dry
It Wes a long read in the end what the book concluded is rich self made men would rather ruin their business than pick a successor. Terrible weakness in Bill Paley's czreer. His wife Babe deserved .more space
It Wes a long read in the end what the book concluded is rich self made men would rather ruin their business than pick a successor. Terrible weakness in Bill Paley's czreer. His wife Babe deserved .more space
January 1, 2020
Such a rich look into two burgeoning industries, radio and TV, about a central figure of both. Very, very well documented and written. Highly recommend.
August 25, 2021
A big, riveting biography of William Paley, the Chicago cigarmaker's son who built the CBS television empire and reigned as its chairman until 1983. A Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club selection.
September 18, 2011
Friends of the HHI Library find. Having read David Sarnoff's story who truly was the father of radio and television from a technical perspective, Bill Paley was a typical rich and spoiled "owner" who took money and credit for work done by others. The author was not a fan so the book was not complementary. Having read other accounts of the industry and CBS, she was probably spot on. Too bad he did not do anything worth while with his money other than over indulge himself.
June 5, 2012
Well written, but this book is enormous and I decided to admit defeat and prioritize some other stuff.
William Paley was one of the founders of CBS, and more or less invented the way network television (and radio) was run. Maybe I'll give it another shot in a few years.
William Paley was one of the founders of CBS, and more or less invented the way network television (and radio) was run. Maybe I'll give it another shot in a few years.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews