Elizabeth Drew (born November 16, 1935) is an American political

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and author.

Early life

Elizabeth Brenner was born on November 16, 1935, in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. She is the daughter of William J. Brenner, a furniture manufacturer, and Estelle Brenner (née Jacobs). Drew attended

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, where she was a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and graduated in 1957 with a BA in political science. Her first job in journalism was with ''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

'' from 1959.

Career

She was

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

correspondent for ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' (1967–1973) and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' (1973–1992). She made regular appearances on "Agronsky and Company" and hosted her own interview program, ''Thirty Minutes With...'' for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

between 1971 and 1973, for which she won an

Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...

. Drew was a panelist for ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...

'' for many years and made frequent appearances on the

'' News Hour'' when it was presented by

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer (; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Lehrer was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS NewsHour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a deb ...

and still occasionally appears on ''The NewsHour'' and other radio and television programs. Drew was a panelist for the first debate in the

1976 U.S. Presidential election The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford from Michigan by a narrow ...

, and moderated the debate between the Democratic candidates for the nomination in the 1984 race. Drew has published 14 books, including ''Washington Journal: The Events of 1973-74'' (1975), an account of the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

; ''Portrait of an Election: The 1980 Presidential Campaign'' (1981); ''On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency'' (1994); ''Citizen McCain'' (2002); and ''George W. Bush's Washington'' (2004). Her most recent book is ''Richard M. Nixon'' (2007). ''Washington Journal'' was re-issued in 2014, with a new afterword. In '' Black Hawk Down'',

Mark Bowden Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book ''Black Hawk Down (book), Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about th ...

wrote of "Elizabeth Drew's ''On the Edge'', an account of Clinton's first years in the White House. Drew's is the best account I've read of the Somalia episode from the White House's perspective." She was chosen to give the Knight Lecture at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1997. She is a regular contributor to ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', as well as to its website. She has also written for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. Drew is a former director of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

(1972–1977).

Personal life

Drew was married to J. Patterson Drew from 1964 until his death in 1970 and was married to David Webster from 1981 until his death in 2003. She currently resides in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Criticism

In 1986, the editors of ''Snooze: The Best of Our Magazine'' parodied her as "Elizabeth Drone," author of a "Giant Postcard From Washington." In 1989, ''

Spy magazine ''Spy'' was a satirical monthly magazine published from 1986 to 1998. Based in New York City, the magazine was founded by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips Jr., its first publisher. ''S ...

'' labeled her as the "author of too-frequent Washington columns." In 2014, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's former aide Frank Gannon disputed Drew’s “blithe assertions that Nixon was a Dilantin-addicted alcoholic,” arguing that they were “as untrue as they are ugly.”

Books

* Washington Journal: The Events of 1973–74 (1975) ** ''Reissued as'' Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall (2014) * American Journal: The Events of 1976 (1977) * Senator (1979) * Portrait of an Election: The 1980 Presidential Campaign (1981) * Politics and Money: The New Road to Corruption (1983) * Campaign Journal: Political Events of 1983–84 (1985) * Election Journal: Political Events of 1987–88 (1989) * On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency (1994) * Showdown: The Struggle Between the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton White House (1996) * Whatever It Takes: The Real Struggle for Political Power in America (1997) * The Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why (1999) * Citizen McCain (2002) * Fear and Loathing in George W. Bush's Washington (2004) * Richard M. Nixon (The American Presidents series) (2007)

References

External links

Elizabeth Drew archive
from ''

''
Drew audio interview on Barack Obama's transition strategy, his cabinet picks, and the new style of governance
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, Elizabeth Living people 1935 births American women journalists American political writers Writers from Cincinnati Wellesley College alumni Stanford University people 21st-century American women