József was born in Hungary as the son of a businessman who was well-known in the city of Makó. His father moved him to Pest and there he was educated by private tutors. His family was wealthy enough for his father to retire in 1853, just 6 years after his birth. In 1858, his father died and the businesses that were keeping them supplied soon went bankrupt. Staring at dire prospects József assumed the easiest work he could find was to fight for an army.

He attempted to enlist himself first with the Austrian Army, then the French and then the British. He was rejected by all of them. Finally, he was recruited in Hamburg to fight in the American Civil War in 1864. He was paid $200 to enlist in the Lincoln Cavalry and arrived in Boston.After the war, he worked many odd jobs; first in the whaling industry and then as a waiter before he got his first break working for the Republican Party in St Louis. It gave him an insider view of the corruption that was rampant in the party. Disillusioned he decided to quit and do something about it.He bought a bankrupt newspaper called St. Louis Dispatch, merged it with St. Louis Post, and created the St Louis Post-Dispatch.Joseph Pulitzer started his career in the news on that day.