Printable Biography of David Broder

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David Broder, a national political correspondent reporting the political scene for The Washington Post, writes a twice-weekly column that covers an even broader aspect of American political life. The column, syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group, is carried by more than 300 newspapers across the globe. Broder has been called "the high priest of political journalism," by author Timothy Crouse, "the unchallenged 'dean' of what many political reporters like to think is their 'priesthood,' " by U.S. News, and "probably the most respected and influential political journalist in the country," by columnist Richard Reeves. Esquire said Broder "has few challengers as the most influential political journalist in the country," and media critic Ron Powers on CBS-TV said, "Broder is not famous like Peter Jennings, he's not glamorous like Tom Brokaw, but underneath that brown suit there is a superman."

Broder was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in May 1973 for distinguished commentary. He has been named "Best Newspaper Political Reporter" by Washington Journalism Review. A survey for Washingtonian magazine found that Broder was rated "Washington's most highly regarded columnist" by both editorial-page editors and members of Congress, leading 16 others in ratings for "overall integrity, factual accuracy and insight." In 1990, a survey by Washingtonian magazine of the opinion-page editors of the largest 200 newspapers rated Broder as "Best Reporter," "Hardest Working," and "Least Ideological" among some 123 columnists. And in March 2001, the magazine rated Broder among the top four best and most influential journalists, calling him "the most unpredictable, reliable and intellectually honest columnist working today," adding that "while the journalistic pack is pestering a flack, Broder is out with the people; no one gets a better sense of the pulse of American opinion."

Broder is a regular commentator on CNN's Inside Politics, and makes regular appearances on NBC's Meet the Press and Washington Week in Review. He is author or co-author of seven books: The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point with Washington Post alumnus Haynes Johnson; Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money; The Man Who Would be President: Dan Quayle with Bob Woodward; Behind the Front Page: A Candid Look at How the News is Made; Changing of the Guard: Power and Leadership in America; The Party's Over: The Failure of Politics in America; and The Republican Establishment: The Present and Future of the G.O.P. with Stephen Hess.

Broder has won numerous awards, including the White Burkett Miller Presidential Award in 1989, and the prestigious 4th Estate Award from the National Press Foundation in 1990, which also honored him with the Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award in 1993. He received the Elijah Parrish Lovejoy Award from Colby College in 1990, and was elected to Sigma Delta Chi's Hall of Fame. In addition, he won the 1997 William Allen White Foundation's award for distinguished achievement in journalism, and, in the same year, was given the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1997, he was named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by National Journal and among the capital city's top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine, a list he has appeared on since 1973.

Before joining the Post in 1966, Broder covered national politics for The New York Times (1965-66), The Washington Star (1960-65) and Congressional Quarterly (1955-60). He has covered every national campaign and convention since 1960, traveling up to 100,000 miles a year to interview voters and report on the candidates.

Broder was born in Chicago Heights, Ill. He received his bachelor's degree and an M.A. in political science from the University of Chicago, served two years in the U.S. Army, and began his newspaper career at the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs at Duke University.