Andrew Breitbart, a conservative activist and publisher, died unexpectedly at the age of 43 on Thursday. Breitbart’s father reported that his son collapsed when walking near his home in Los Angeles, Calif. He reportedly died of natural causes. Breitbart was a force in the conservative party and gained his reputation in the political world as an editor for the Drudge Report, a political tip sheet frequented daily by journalist, politicians and cable television bookers. Breitbart shared a love of headlines and the news with founder Matt Drudge.
During Breitbart’s time at the Drudge Report, he began working with journalist Arianna Huffington, a conservative-turned-liberal activist, who was developing a fresh news site that Breitbart assisted to found. He left the Huffington Post in its early stages, but Huffington said nothing but good things about Breitbart in an e-mail sent to The Fix. Huffington said, “All I can think is what Andrew meant to me as a friend, starting from when we worked together — his passion, his exuberance, his fearlessness. And above all, what I’m thinking of at the moment is his amazing wife Susie and their four beautiful young children.”
Breitbart also launched a few sites of his own including, Breitbart.tv, a news aggregation site, Big Hollywood, Big Government, and Big Journalism. These sites included conservative and controversial content. In 2009, Breitbart posted an undercover video of a man, James O’Keefe, posing as a pimp and seeking legal advice for his “business” from ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The video revealed some ACORN employees advising them how to hide prostitution activities and avoid taxes. The damaging video to the now closed organization boosted Breitbart to national political prominence. After this video, in 2010 Breitbart posted a video of a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee named Shirley Sherrod, seemingly expressing opposition to help a white farmer who had sought assistance. Sherrod was fired for the incident and later sued Breitbart for defamation of character. The video was heavily edited to make Sherrod appear racist, when in fact she had been telling the story of the white farmer as an example of how she had overcome her initial doubts and worked to help the farmer.
Breitbart was also one of the first to report the infamous tweets that led to the resignation of former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who had taken photographs of himself and sent them to a number of women, not including his wife.
Breitbart will famously be remembered for his derogatory comments within hours of Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy’s death when he called senator “villain”, a “duplicitous bastard”, a “prick” and “a special pile of human excrement.” While the Democrats will remember him as someone who challenged the Democratic Party, their core issues and leadership, Breitbart will be remembered by the Republicans as a powerful speaker for Tea Party movement issues and an activist. Breitbart was a journalist.
He is survived by his four children and wife, Susannah Bean Breitbart, 41.
