Charles Roberts, Well-Known Magazine Journalist, Dead at 75

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Charles W. Roberts, a former White House correspondent who covered the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon presidencies for Newsweek magazine, has died of cancer. He was 75.

Roberts was one of only three journalists who witnessed the swearing-in of President Johnson aboard Air Force One after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. He was the first to interview Johnson afterwards.

His journalism career was earlier interrupted by a three-year stint as a Navy gunnery officer during World War II.

Thomas Heggen, a Navy friend and author of the WWII book ″Mr. Roberts″ that later became a broadway hit and a movie starring Henry Fonda, told Roberts his name and personality were the basis for much of the main character in his book.

Roberts himself was an author. He wrote the 1967 book, ″The Truth About the Assassination″ that supported the government’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy.

He also wrote a 1965 book″LBJ’s Inner Circle″ that explored the role of the White House staff.

Roberts was born in Huntington, W. Va., and grew up in Memphis and Evanston, Ill. He died Wednesday at his home in suburban Bethesda, Md.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Robert’s career included stints with the Evanston News-Index, City News Bureau in Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun and Chicago Daily News.

He left Newsweek in 1972 to become associate director of the Washington Journalism Center. He later became director of information for the National Wildlife Federation before retiring in 1982.