Before the Murdochs, the Chandler Dynasty Previewed a ‘Succession’-Worthy Political Divide

Otis Chandler steered the Los Angeles Times in a new direction, achieving success that helped silence conservative relatives

Portrait of Otis Chandler of the LA Times
Otis Chandler, former owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, poses at his car museum in 1999. (Credit: Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images)

Rupert Murdoch’s legal battle with his children continues to wind through the courts, but it’s not the first time a dynastic media family has become divided by the issue of politics, creating a “Succession”-worthy succession drama.

Before the elder Murdoch fretted about his more liberal children wresting control of his conservative empire from designated heir Lachlan — saying in text messages obtained by the New York Times it would be a “disaster” if the business he had nurtured “fell into the wrong hands” — there was Otis Chandler, who inherited and promptly changed the political direction of the Los Angeles Times during a pivotal moment in American politics.

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