George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American
television host
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...
, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a
coanchor with
Robin Roberts and
Michael Strahan
Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...
on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
'', and host of ''
This Week,'' ABC's Sunday morning current events news program.
Before his career as a journalist, Stephanopoulos was an advisor to the
Democratic Party. He rose to early prominence as a communications director for the
1992 presidential campaign of
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
and subsequently became
White House communications director
The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...
. He was later senior advisor for policy and strategy, before departing in December 1996.
Early life and education
George Stephanopoulos was born in
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
, the son of Nickolitsa "Nikki" Gloria (née Chafos) and Robert George Stephanopoulos. His parents are of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
descent. His father is a
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
priest and
dean ''
emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
'' of the
Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, at 319–337 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side in New York City, New York, is a Neo-Byzantine-style Greek Orthodox church. It serves as the national cathedral of the Greek Orthodox Archdioce ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
["Fr. Robert George Stephanopoulos"](_blank)
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
Archbishop
On May 11, 2019, the church's H ...
. Retrieved December 20, 2009. His father is a retired priest at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church in Cleveland Heights, OH. His mother was the director of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
Archbishop
On May 11, 2019, the church's H ...
National News Service for many years.
Following some time in
Purchase, New York
Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride i ...
, Stephanopoulos moved to the eastern suburbs of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, where he graduated in 1978 from
Orange High School in
Pepper Pike
Pepper Pike is a city in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,796 as of the 2020 census. It is an affluent suburb of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
History
In 1763, sixteen pioneers settled the area along the ea ...
.
In 1982, Stephanopoulos received a Bachelor of Arts degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
''
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and was the
salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tr ...
of his class. While at Columbia, he was elected to
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 ...
his junior year and was awarded a
Harry S. Truman Scholarship. He was also a sports broadcaster for 89.9
WKCR-FM, the university's
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
. As a student, he lived in
Carman Hall and
East Campus.
Stephanopoulos attended
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
in England, as a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, earning a
Master of Arts in Theology in 1984.
Political career
Early work
Stephanopoulos worked in
Washington, D.C., as an aide to Democratic
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Ed Feighan
Edward Farrell "Ed" Feighan (born October 22, 1947) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a Democratic Party U.S. Representative from 1983 to 1993, serving Ohio's 19th congressional ...
of Ohio. His job included drafting letters, memos, and speeches. His salary was reportedly $14,500 a year. He later became Feighan's chief of staff.
In 1988, Stephanopoulos worked on the
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history ...
1988 U.S. presidential campaign. He has noted that one of his attractions to this campaign was that Dukakis was a
Greek-American liberal from Massachusetts. After this campaign, Stephanopoulos became an executive floor assistant to
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House Majority Leader fro ...
,
U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader; he held this position until he joined the Clinton campaign.
Clinton administration
Stephanopoulos was, along with
David Wilhelm and
James Carville
Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...
, a leading member of
Clinton's 1992 U.S. presidential campaign. His role on the campaign is portrayed in the
documentary film ''
The War Room'' (1993).
In the Clinton administration, Stephanopoulos served as a senior advisor for policy and strategy. His initiatives focused on crime legislation, affirmative action, and health care.
At the outset of Clinton's presidency, Stephanopoulos also served as the ''de facto''
press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.
Dut ...
, briefing the press even though
Dee Dee Myers was officially the
White House Press Secretary. Stephanopoulos was regarded as a member of Bill Clinton's inner circle.
In 1994, after
Paula Jones
Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cite ...
accused
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
of
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...
, Stephanopoulos and
James Carville
Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...
sought to discredit her allegations against Clinton. Both men suggested that Jones was just seeking cash for her story. Stephanopoulos also successfully sought to keep Jones' news conference off television. Stephanopoulos called
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
journalist
Tim Russert
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Wa ...
,
CNN chairman
Tom Johnson, as well as several others, whom he convinced to keep her conference off television.
On February 25, 1994, Stephanopoulos and
Harold Ickes had a conference call with
Roger Altman
Roger Charles Altman (born April 2, 1946) is an American investment banker, the founder and senior chairman of Evercore, and a former Democratic politician. He served as
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Carter administration from Ja ...
to discuss the
Resolution Trust Corporation's choice of
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
lawyer Jay Stephens to head the
Madison Guaranty investigation as well as discussing if Stephens could be removed. The Madison Guaranty investigation would later turn into the
Whitewater controversy
The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their as ...
.
In 1995, as he was pulling out of a parking space in front of a restaurant in the
Georgetown neighborhood of
Washington, D.C., he had a collision with a parked vehicle. Stephanopoulos was arrested and charged with
leaving the scene of an accident and driving with an expired license and license plates. White House press secretary,
Mike McCurry, said that President Clinton told Stephanopoulos "not to worry about" the accident but to get his license renewed. The charge of leaving the scene of an accident was subsequently dropped.
In 1999 Stephanopoulos and
James Carville
Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...
were sued for defamation by
Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers (born January 24, 1950) is an American author, singer, model, actress, former State of Arkansas employee, and former TV journalist. In January 1998, President Bill Clinton testified under oath that he had a sexual encounter wi ...
.
Stephanopoulos had made comments about her allegations that she had an affair with
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
. He accused Flowers of doctoring her taped conversation with Clinton to make her story look creditable. Stephanopoulos also called her story "tabloid trash", "garbage", and "crap". The suit was dismissed since his comments were not the basis for defamation.
Stephanopoulos resigned from the Clinton administration shortly after
Clinton was re-elected in 1996.
His
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
, ''All Too Human: A Political Education'' (1999), was published after he left the White House during Clinton's second term. It quickly became a number-one bestseller on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. In the book, Stephanopoulos spoke of his
depression and how his face broke out into
hives
Hives, also known as urticaria, is a kind of skin rash with red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives may burn or sting. The patches of rash may appear on different body parts, with variable duration from minutes to days, and does not leave any long-last ...
due to the pressures of conveying the Clinton White House message. Clinton referred to the book in his autobiography, ''
My Life'', apologizing for what he felt in retrospect to be excessive demands placed on the young staffer.
Stephanopoulos's book covers his time with Clinton from the day he met him in September 1991, to the day Stephanopoulos left the White House in December 1996, through two presidential campaigns and four years in the White House. Stephanopoulos describes Clinton in the book as a "complicated man responding to the pressures and pleasures of public life in ways I found both awesome and appalling".
Journalism
After leaving the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
at the end of Clinton's first term, Stephanopoulos became a political analyst for
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
, and served as a correspondent on ''
This Week'',
ABC's Sunday morning public affairs program; ''World News Tonight'', the evening news broadcast; ''Good Morning America'', the morning news program; along with other various special broadcasts.
In September 2002, Stephanopoulos became host of ''This Week'', and ABC News officially named him "Chief Washington Correspondent" in December 2005.
Staff writer
In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...
(December 10, 2009)
"George Stephanopoulos' Biography – Anchor, ''Good Morning America''; Chief Political Correspondent; Anchor, ''This Week''"
Retrieved December 19, 2009. The program's title added the new host's name.
When named to the position, Stephanopoulos was a relative newcomer to the show, usurping longtime panelists and short-term co-hosts
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...
and
Cokie Roberts
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS, ...
who, for a few years, briefly replaced the longtime original host,
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997.
From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...
.
ABC News executives reportedly offered
Ted Koppel
Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005.
Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...
, former ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the prog ...
'' anchor, the ''This Week'' host job in 2005 after the program's ratings had become a regular third-, fourth-, and sometimes fifth-place finish after competitors NBC, CBS, Fox, and syndicated programs.
[ Steinberg, Jacques (April 1, 2005)]
Koppel Leaving ABC News and 'Nightline' in December"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. However, ''This Week'' beat ''
Meet the Press
''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk shows, news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though the curr ...
'' on January 11, 2009, when Stephanopoulos interviewed
president-elect Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
.
[Danny Shea (February 5, 2009)]
"'Meet the Press' Ratings Lowest since David Gregory Became Moderator"
''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
On April 16, 2008, Stephanopoulos co-moderated, with
Charles Gibson, the twenty-first, and ultimately final,
Democratic Party presidential debate between Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
for the
2008 election cycle. While the debate received record ratings, the co-moderators were heavily criticized for focusing most of the first hour of the debate on controversies that occurred during the campaign rather than issues such as the economy and the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. Stephanopoulos acknowledged the legitimacy of the concerns over the order of the questions, but said they were issues in the campaign that had not been covered in previous debates.
ABC had sought out a woman who opposed Obama and aired a video of her asking a trivial question, repeated by Stephanopoulos, about why Obama wasn't wearing a flag pin. The question brought widespread criticism from the media.
During the 2008 presidential election campaign, Stephanopoulos launched a blog ''George's Bottom Line'' on the ABC News website. Stephanopoulos blogged about political news and analysis from Washington.
In December 2009, ABC News president David Westin offered Stephanopoulos
Diane Sawyer's job on ''Good Morning America'' after Sawyer was named anchor of ''World News''. Stephanopoulos accepted the new position and began co-anchoring ''GMA'' on December 14, 2009. Stephanopoulos announced on January 10, 2010, that that would be his last broadcast as the permanent host of ''This Week''. However, after his successor,
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Maria Heideh AmanpourStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', 22 January 2019 (; fa, کریستیان امانپور, Kristiane Amānpur; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief ...
, left the show amid sagging ratings, it was announced that Stephanopoulos would return as host of ''This Week'' in December 2011. He signed a deal to stay with ABC until 2021 worth
$105 million.
On January 7, 2012, Stephanopoulos was the co-moderator of a debate among
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
,
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...
and
Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...
. During the debate, Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked Romney whether the former Massachusetts governor believes the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn a 1965 ruling that a constitutional right to privacy bars states from banning contraception. During the debate, Romney said it was a preposterous question.
Following Diane Sawyer's departure from
World News
World news or international news or even foreign coverage is the news media jargon for news from abroad, about a country or a global subject. For journalism, it is a branch that deals with news either sent by foreign correspondents or news agen ...
at the end of August 2014, Stephanopoulos was the Chief Anchor at ABC News from 2014 to 2020 while retaining his roles on ''GMA'' and ''This Week''. Stephanopoulos leads a new documentary unit for Disney's digital platforms and hosts four primetime hour-long specials on the ABC network annually.
Speaking engagements
In 2009, Stephanopoulos spoke at the annual
Tri-C Presidential Scholarship Luncheon held at the
Renaissance Cleveland Hotel and praised
Cuyahoga Community College.
Controversies
Real estate loan controversy
In 1994, columnist
Jack Anderson reported that Stephanopoulos signed an $835,000 commercial real estate deal consisting of a two-story apartment, including an eyewear retailer, with a below-market loan rate from a bank owned by
Hugh McColl
Hugh L. McColl Jr. (born 18 June 1935) is a fourth-generation banker and the former Chairman and CEO of Bank of America. Active in banking since around 1960, McColl was a driving force behind consolidating a series of progressively larger, mos ...
, who had been called by President Clinton "the most enlightened banker in America". A
NationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company named NationsBank was formed through the merger of several other banks in 1991, and prior to that had been through mul ...
commercial loan officer said that this loan did "not fit our product matrix" as banks typically offer such loans for only those customers who have deep pockets and on a short-term adjustable rate basis. Stephanopoulos's real estate agent explained that "nobody making $125,000 could qualify for the property without the commercial property (lease)." One former senior bank regulator told Anderson, "If his name were George Smith, and he didn't work in the White House, this loan wouldn't have gotten made."
Regarding the controversy, NationsBank stated, "The loan described by Jack Anderson as a commercial loan to George Stephanopoulos was, in fact, a residential mortgage loan. At the time the loan commitment was made, Mr. Anderson (or his imaginary 'George Smith' who 'doesn't work in the White House') could have walked into any NationsBank Mortgage Company office in the D.C. area and received the same excellent rate and term for the same deal."
However, Stephanopoulos's realtor states that he would not have qualified for the loan without the commercial property rent. One NationsBank source states that the issuance of a residential loan on mixed-use properties is such a rarity that it was not even addressed in the "NationsBank Mortgage Corporation's Program Summary" or its "Credit Policy Manual". A NationsBank underwriting memo revealed that one of the three restrictions for mixed-use properties is that "the borrower must be the owner of the business entity". The source claims that NationsBank told the listing agent that, "We're not (interested in mixed-use properties), but we do have an appetite for this particular loan." NationsBank's primary regulator at the time was Comptroller of the Currency
Eugene Ludwig
Eugene A. "Gene" Ludwig (born April 11, 1946) is an American business leader and expert on banking regulation, risk management, and fiscal policy. From 1993 to 1998 he served as Comptroller of the Currency.
He is the founder and former CEO and c ...
, a Rhodes scholar who attended
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...
with President Clinton, and who had been asked to investigate NationsBank by Democratic congressmen
Henry B. Gonzalez and
John Dingell
John David Dingell Jr. (July 8, 1926 – February 7, 2019) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1955 until 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he holds the record for longes ...
.
Clinton Foundation charity donations
Stephanopoulos donated $25,000 in 2012, 2013, and 2014, a total of $75,000, to the
Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...
, but did not disclose the donations to ABC News, his employer, or to his viewers.
Stephanopoulos failed to reveal the donations even on April 26, 2015, while interviewing
Peter Schweizer
Peter Franz Schweizer (born November 24, 1964) is an American political consultant and writer. He is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), senior editor-at-large of far-right media organization Breitbart News, and a fo ...
, the author of ''
Clinton Cash
''Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich'' is a 2015 ''New York Times'' bestselling book by Peter Schweizer in which he investigates donations made to the Clinton Founda ...
'', a book which alleges that donations to the Foundation influenced some of
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
's actions as Secretary of State.
After exposure of the donations by ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' on May 14, 2015, Stephanopoulos apologized and admitted he should have disclosed the donations to ABC News and its viewers.
The story was broken by ''
The Washington Free Beacon
''The Washington Free Beacon'' is an American conservative political journalism website launched in 2012.
The website is financially backed by Paul Singer, an American billionaire hedge fund manager and conservative activist.
History
The ...
'', which had questioned ABC News regarding the matter.
The donations had been reported by the Clinton Foundation, which Stephanopoulos had considered sufficient, a reliance ABC News characterized as "an honest mistake."
[
Based on Stephanopoulos's donations to The Clinton Foundation charity and his behavior during prior interviews and presidential debates, Republican party leaders and candidates expressed their distrust, and called for him to be banned from moderating 2016 Presidential debates, due to bias and ]conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
. He agreed to drop out as a moderator of the scheduled February 2016 Republican presidential primary debate.
In the month prior to his revelation, Stephanopoulos told Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted '' The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts '' ...
on ''The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fr ...
'' that when money is given to the Clinton Foundation "everybody" knows there's "a hope that that's going to lead to something, and that's what you have to be careful of."
Jeffrey Epstein association
In 2010, Stephanopoulos attended a dinner party at the home of convicted sex offender socialite Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...
alongside Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Joy Handler (born February 25, 1975) is an American comedian, actress, writer, television host, and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show ''Chelsea Lately'' on the E! network from 2007 to 2014 and released a documentary series, ...
, Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
, Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
, Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince ...
, Charlie Rose
Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP.
Rose also co- ...
and Eva Andersson-Dubin
Eva Birgitta Andersson-Dubin (born 1961) is a Swedish physician. She is also the founder of the Dubin Breast Center at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. She is married to hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin. ...
. Following Epstein's arrest in July 2019, the party resurfaced online, with those attending receiving backlash, Stephanopoulos denied being friends with Epstein, with the party being the only encounter.
Stephanopoulos told ''The New York Times'': "That dinner was the first and last time I’ve seen him, I should have done more due diligence. It was a mistake to go."
In popular culture
In the fourth episode of the first season of the NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television series ''Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...
'', entitled "The One with George Stephanopoulos
"The One with George Stephanopoulos" is the fourth episode of the first season of the NBC television series ''Friends''. The fourth episode of the show overall, it was first broadcast on October 13, 1994. The episode was directed by James Burrow ...
" and originally aired 13 October 1994, the girls spy on Stephanopoulos across the street, after they were delivered his pizza by accident.
Stephanopoulos was the inspiration for the character of Henry Burton in Joe Klein's novel ''Primary Colors
A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a b ...
'' (1996). Burton was subsequently portrayed by Adrian Lester
Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the ...
in the 1998 film adaptation. Michael J. Fox's character, Lewis Rothschild, in the film ''The American President
''The American President'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film stars Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, and Richard Dreyfuss. In t ...
'' (1995), written by Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...
was modeled after Stephanopoulos. He was also used by Sorkin as the model for Rob Lowe's character, Sam Seaborn
Samuel Norman Seaborn is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama ''The West Wing''. From the beginning of the series in 1999 until the middle of the fourth season in 2003, he is deputy White House Communications Di ...
, on the television drama series ''The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
''. According to Stephanopoulos, his role in the Clinton administration was more like Bradley Whitford's character Josh Lyman
Joshua Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama series ''The West Wing''. The role earned Whitford the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001. For most of the se ...
than Seaborn or Rothschild.
Stephanopoulos returned to his ''alma mater'', Columbia University, in 2003, serving as the keynote speaker at Columbia College's Class Day. In 2013, Stephanopoulos played himself in ''House of Cards
A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an Expression (language), expression that dates back to ...
'' and in 2014 he played himself in an episode of ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and L ...
''. In September 2016, Stephanopoulos was featured on a €1 (1 euro) Greek postage stamp, along with other notable Greek-Americans
Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...
.
In 2021, Stephanopoulos was portrayed by George H. Xanthis in two episodes of '' Impeachment: American Crime Story''; the third season of the FX true-crime anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
television series ''American Crime Story
''American Crime Story'' is an American anthology true crime television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Simpson. The seri ...
''.
Personal life
Stephanopoulos is a Greek Orthodox Christian and has earned a master's degree in theology.
Stephanopoulos married Ali Wentworth
Alexandra "Ali" Wentworth (born January 12, 1965) is an American actress, comedian, author, and producer.
Early life
Wentworth's mother, Muffie Cabot (née Mabel Bryant Hobart), was Nancy Reagan's White House social secretary from 1981 to 1983 ...
, an actress, comedian, and writer, in 2001 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, at 319–337 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side in New York City, New York, is a Neo-Byzantine-style Greek Orthodox church. It serves as the national cathedral of the Greek Orthodox Archdioce ...
on New York's Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
. They have two daughters, one born in 2002 and one born in 2005. Stephanopoulos was introduced to transcendental meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
by Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...
. Conducting an interview on ''Good Morning America'', he said, "We’re all here because we all have something in common—we all practice Transcendental Meditation. … I think that people don’t really understand exactly what it is and what a difference it has made in people’s lives."
Wentworth posted on Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
April 1, 2020, that she was struggling with COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
while self-quarantining in their New York home. Stephanopoulos announced on April 13, 2020, that he had tested positive for COVID-19 but was asymptomatic.
Honors
In May 2007, Stephanopoulos received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from St. John's University in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
See also
* List of Balliol College people
* List of Columbia University alumni
* List of Eastern Orthodox Christians
* List of Greek Americans
*List of people from Cleveland
The people listed below were all born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Cleveland, Ohio.
A
*Tony Abbott, author of children's books
* Richard F. Abel, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
*Tony Adamle, football p ...
* List of people from Massachusetts
*List of people from New York City
Many notable people were either born in New York City or adopted it as their home.
People from New York City
0-50
*50 Cent (Curtis Jackson, born 1975) – businessman and rapper
*6ix9ine (Daniel Hernandez, born 1996) – rapper ...
* List of people from Washington, D.C.
*List of Rhodes Scholars
This is a list of Rhodes Scholars, covering notable people who have received a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £ ...
*List of television reporters
Argentina
Australia
* Richard Carleton
* Naomi Robson
* Ray Martin
*George Negus
* Ian Leslie
* Jana Wendt
* Charles Wooley
* Liam Bartlett
* Tara Brown
* Allison Langdon
Brazil
* Glória Maria
* Ana Paula Padrão
Canada
*Ian Hanoma ...
*List of talk show hosts
Below is a list of talk show hosts, sorted alphabetically by their surnames.
__NOTOC__
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
See also
* List of game show hosts
This is a list of ...
*Lists of American writers
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*New Yorkers in journalism
New York City has been called the media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters.
New Yorkers in journalism
A
* ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
abcnews.com/thisweek
''This Week with George Stephanopoulos
''This Week'', originally titled as ''This Week with David Brinkley'' and currently billed as ''This Week with George Stephanopoulos'', is an American Sunday morning political affairs program airing on the ABC television network. It premiered o ...
'' official website
*
*
Membership
at 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 ...
*
, -
, -
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, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephanopoulos, George
1961 births
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
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21st-century American writers
Disney people
ABC News personalities
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
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American political consultants
American Rhodes Scholars
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
American television talk show hosts
American writers of Greek descent
Clinton administration personnel
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Journalists from New York City
Journalists from Washington, D.C.
Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
Living people
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