* For his "brilliant" coverage of the United States' entry into World War I.
1918: No award given
1919: Frank Cobb, New York World
* For his editorial leadership of the New York World, which helped shape public opinion on many important issues.
1920: Henry Justin Smith, Chicago Daily News
* For his articles on the political situation in the United States.
1921: William Allen White, Emporia Gazette
* For his editorials on a variety of topics, including the importance of small-town newspapers.
1922: Oswald Garrison Villard, The Nation
* For his editorials on the League of Nations and other international issues.
1923: William E. Woodward, The New York Herald
* For his coverage of the Teapot Dome scandal.
1924: Charles Merz, The New Republic
* For his articles on the presidential election of 1924.
1925: Finley Peter Dunne, New York Sun/The World
* For his satirical column "Mr. Dooley," which offered commentary on American politics.
1926: Walter Lippmann, New York World
* For his articles on the League of Nations and other international issues.
1927: Mark Sullivan, The New York Herald Tribune
* For his articles on the political situation in the United States.
1928: Louis M. Lyons, The New York Post
* For his coverage of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.
1929: Charles S. Strong, The New York Times
* For his coverage of the stock market crash of 1929.
1930: Russel Crouse and Robert Forrest, New York Evening Post
* For their coverage of the trial of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr., who were convicted of murdering a 14-year-old boy.
1931: Alva Johnston, The New York Times
* For his articles on the Great Depression.
1932: Walter Duranty, The New York Times
* For his coverage of the Soviet Union.
1933: Hamilton Fish Armstrong, Foreign Affairs
* For his articles on international relations.
1934: Frank R. Kent, The Baltimore Sun
* For his editorials on a variety of topics.
1935: William S. White, The New York Times
* For his coverage of the New Deal.
1936: John H. Dietrich, The Chicago Daily News
* For his editorials on the Supreme Court.
1937: Dorsey D. Jones and Gardner Cowles, Jr., The Des Moines Register and Tribune
* For their coverage of the farm crisis in the Midwest.
1938: Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
* For her novel about the American Civil War.
1939: John Gunther, Inside Europe
* For his book about the political situation in Europe.
1940: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
* For his novel about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
1941: Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
* For his novel about the Spanish Civil War.
1942: Thornton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth
* For his play about the human condition.
1943: John Hersey, "A Bell for Adano"
* For his novel about the American occupation of Sicily.
1944: Oliver La Farge, Laughing Boy
* For his novel about a Native American boy who is torn between his traditional culture and the white world.
1945: John P. Marquand, So Little Time
* For his novel about a man who is struggling with the challenges of middle age.
1946: Ardis Whitman, "The Immortal Wife"
* For her novel about the wife of Alexander Hamilton.
1947: Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men
* For his novel about a corrupt Louisiana politician.
1948: James Gould Cozzens, The Just and the Unjust
* For his novel about a successful businessman who is facing a crisis of conscience.
1949: James Jones, From Here to Eternity
* For his novel about the lives of soldiers stationed in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1950: A. B. Guthrie, Jr., The Way West
* For his novel about a family's journey to the Oregon Territory.
1951: Conrad Richter, The Town
* For his novel about a small town in Ohio during the Civil War.
1952: Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny
* For his novel about a mutiny on a Navy ship during World War II.
1953: Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
* For his novel about an old fisherman who battles a giant marlin.
1954: John P. Marquand, Sincerely, Willis Wayde
* For his novel about a small-town businessman who is struggling to save his business.
1955: William Faulkner, A Fable
* For his novel about a soldier who is fighting in World War I.
1956: MacKinlay Kantor, Andersonville
* For his novel about the Confederate prison camp during the Civil War.
1957: Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry
* For his novel about a charismatic preacher who is not as holy as he seems.
1958: James Gould Cozzens, By Love Possessed
* For his novel about a doctor who is struggling with his personal and professional life.
1959: Robert Lewis Taylor, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
* For his novel about a young boy who travels to the American West in the 1850s.
1960: Allen Drury, Advise and Consent
* For his novel about the political battles over the confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice.