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John Franklin Carter was a New Deal columnist syndicated under the pen name of Jay Franklin. He was the author of more than 30 books of fiction and nonfiction. Carter attended Yale where he formed a network of important contacts. After a brief career in government service, he became the Rome correspondent for the London Daily Chronicle in 1922. A year later he moved to the New York Times. In 1928 he became an economic specialist for the Division of Western Europe for the U.S. State Department. He was Washington correspondent for Liberty magazine, but returned to government service from 1934 to 1936 as Under Secretary for Agriculture. Carter was best known for his syndicated column "We the People," which ran 1936-1948.

Carter supported Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies and acted as an advisor on “political intelligence” to the president during World War II. He was also a radio commentator for NBC from 1938 to 1939. Carter later worked for Harry Truman as a speechwriter but resigned from the White House staff shortly after Truman's election. He joined the Republican Party and became an active supporter of President Richard Nixon. Carter became an economic research consultant for the New York State Department of Commerce. In 1950, he was appointed director of public relations for the New York State Publicity Department. He died in 1967.