William Bayard Hale (April 6, 1869 – April 10, 1924) was an American journalist, Episcopal clergyman, and diplomat best known for his association with President Woodrow Wilson and his controversial role as a propagandist during World War I.
Born in Richmond, Indiana, Hale was educated at Boston University and Harvard University. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest and served in various parishes in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania before transitioning into a career in journalism. He gained national attention as an editor for The World's Work and later for his interviews with prominent world figures, including an extensively cited 1908 interview with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, which was suppressed for years at the request of the German government due to its inflammatory content.
Hale developed a close professional relationship with Woodrow Wilson during Wilson's tenure as Governor of New Jersey. In 1912, Hale wrote a campaign biography of Wilson, and following Wilson’s inauguration as President, he was dispatched as a special agent to Mexico in 1913. His reports on the Victoriano Huerta regime significantly influenced the Wilson administration’s decision to withhold diplomatic recognition and support the constitutionalist forces.
During the early years of World War I, Hale worked as a correspondent for the Hearst newspaper organization. His career became defined by his involvement with the German Information Service. Following the United States' entry into the war, investigations by the U.S. government revealed that Hale had received payments from the German government to produce and disseminate pro-German propaganda and to influence American public opinion toward neutrality.
The revelation of these activities led to Hale's social and professional ostracization in the United States. He eventually moved to Europe, where he spent his remaining years. He died in Munich, Germany, in 1924. His published works include The New Freedom (as an editor for Wilson), American Rights and British Pretensions on the Seas, and The Story of a Style, a psychoanalytic study of Woodrow Wilson’s writing and oratory.