The name William S. Paley (1901-1990) will be forever intertwined with
that of two of the great institutions born in the 20th century:
Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc (CBS), which he transformed from a
small radio network in the 1920s to a giant of American broadcasting,
and MoMA – the first museum dedicated to Modern Art (founded in
1929) which he championed for half a century. In these dual roles, he
was at the forefront of shaping American culture and taste - firstly
behind the lens of CBS at a time when television emerged as the
greatest new instrument of influence on the nation, and later at The
Museum of Modern Art, Paley was the looking glass through which
America saw itself at every momentous turn.