FINLEY PETER DUNNE
Dunne put these words in the mouth of his famous character, Mr. Dooley. The part of the quotation, “comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable” without the accent, became the motto for many journalists. This is the earliest use we have found, but it ironically was not very complimentary to newspapers.
Finley Peter Dunne was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War, a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches. Speaking with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant from County Roscommon, the fictional Mr. Dooley expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub. Dunne's sly humor and political acumen won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs. Dunne's sketches became so popular and such a litmus test of public opinion that they were read each week at White House cabinet meetings.
