James M. Ragen, Sr.

On the record

• 1927 — Thomas F. Kelly testified that Ragen left the Chicago Examiner in 1927 and "went over to work for Mr. Annenberg on the news bureau" (Kefauver Part 5, 18 October 1950).
• 1929 — The Supreme Court records that he held 20 shares of the Consensus Publishing Company and that "Kruse and Ragen were executives in other Annenberg companies" (United States v. Ragen, 1942).
• 12 September 1940 — Convicted with four others in the Consensus tax case; the Seventh Circuit reversed on 26 February 1941 (United States v. Molasky, 1941).
• 5 January 1942 — The Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit as to Ragen, Sr. and the Kruses: "The judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals is reversed and that of the District Court affirmed" (United States v. Ragen).
• 1939 — A Senate committee report, as quoted to the Kefauver Committee, says Arthur McBride and James Ragen, "Annenberg's employees," took over the news-distributing wire service in 1939 (S. Rept. 81-1752, quoted in Part 2).
• 2 May 1946 — The committee staff's chronology lists "Ragen Statement May 2, 1946" (Exhibit 43, staff table).
• 24 June 1946 — The same chronology records "RAGEN shot June 24, 1946" (Exhibit 43). The quoted Senate report says he was shot and later poisoned in hospital, "the reports being" that he refused to let Chicago gangsters into the business; that is the report's account of reports.
• May 1947 — Edward J. McBride testified that he bought the rest of Continental "From the Ragen estate and Ragen, Jr." (Kefauver Part 5, 7 October 1950).

The role line rests on Thomas F. Kelly’s testimony and on the Supreme Court’s statement of facts in United States v. Ragen. The date of Ragen’s death is not legible in the OCR of the committee’s chronology, and no death record is filed; this page gives no death date.

Statements in the committee’s exhibits that tie named Chicago figures to approaches made to Ragen in 1945 and 1946 are the staff’s summary of Ragen’s own statements, not findings, and are not repeated here.

Records