Robert Draper (born November 15, 1959) is an American
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 of ''
Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives''. He is a correspondent for ''
GQ'' and a contributor to ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...
''. Previously, he worked for ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
''.
Background and education
Draper attended
Westchester High School in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He is the grandson of
Leon Jaworski
Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon af ...
, who served as a special prosecutor during 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 ...
. Draper was active in high school debate. He attended the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
where he majored in the
Plan II Honors
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
program and wrote for the university newspaper ''
The Daily Texan
''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spri ...
''.
Career
Journalism career
After graduation from the University of Texas at Austin, Draper wrote for the ''
Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
''.
In 1991, Draper joined the staff of the ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' where he worked along with Gregory Curtis, Jim Shahin, Joe Nick Patoski, Gary Cartwright,
Evan Smith and the periodical publisher Michael Levy.
[ In July 1992, Draper publishes his interview in ''Texas Monthly'' on ]Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
, who at that time became known for his novel '' All the Pretty Horses''. In September 1996, Draper had relocated to Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
where he worked for four months for the ''Hadrian's Walls''.[
In 2007, Draper became a contributing writer to '']National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' and in 2008 joined ''The New York Times Magazine''. As a writer for ''The New York Times'', Draper had an exclusive interview with Wendy Davis, prior to her even becoming a politician.
He also is an editor of ''GQ'' magazine.
As a journalist and editor he had met many known people, including novelists such as Stephen Harrigan
Stephen Harrigan (born 1948) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of the bestselling ''The Gates of the Alamo'', for other novels such as ''Remember Ben Clayton'' and ''A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,'' ...
, Mary Karr
Mary Karr (born January 16, 1955) is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas. She is widely noted for her 1995 bestselling memoir '' The Liars' Club''. Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracus ...
and Carol Dawson.[
In 2019, Draper and Cédric Gerbehaye, a Belgian photographer, had traveled to ]Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, to write about lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
.
Writing career
Draper's career as a writer dates back to 1990 when he wrote his first novel ''Armbrister''. Back then, Kathy Robbins was his literary agent, who promised to find him a publisher, but failed to do so. During the same year. Draper had written ''Rolling Stone Magazine
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...
: The Uncensored History'', which was read by Julia Null, wife of Evan Smith, and was published by Doubleday the same year. In 1994, Draper moved to Palacios, Texas
Palacios ( ) is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,395 at the 2020 census.
Etymology
Popular local legend states that the area was named Tres Palacios ("Three Palaces") several centuries ago by shipwrecked Spani ...
for three months, where he wrote another novel, ''Under Mistletoe'' which, just like his ''Armbrister'' didn't get published.[
Draper's literary success became apparent when he became an author of '' Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush'', a chronicle of the Bush administration from 2001 to 2007. '']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 ...
'' reviewed the book, writing that it gives "the reader an intimate sense of the president’s personality and how it informs his decision making." He has also written a novel ''Hadrian's Walls'', published in 1999, which 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 ...
called "deft and occasionally ingenious."
In April 2012, Draper published '' Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives'', which 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 ...
'' described as "much-discussed and heavily-reported." Writing in the ''Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', 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, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl
Jonathan D. Karl (born January 19, 1968) is an American political journalist and author. Karl has covered every major assignment in Washington, D.C., including the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the U.S. State Department, and has r ...
called the book "a refreshingly balanced account that captures the drama of one of Congress's most combative and maddeningly frustrating years in memory."
Personal life
Draper was married to Meg Littleton in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[
On November 16, 2016, fellow journalist Kirsten Powers announced her engagement to Draper.]
Bibliography
Books
*
*''Hadrian's walls'', Knopf, 1999,
*
* 331 p.
* 352 p.
* 246 p.
* 496 p.
* 400 p.
Essays and reporting
* Kate del Castillo
Kate del Castillo Negrete Trillo () is a Mexican-American actress. At the age of 19, del Castillo became known for her lead role in the telenovela ''Muchachitas'' for Televisa in 1991. Afterwards, she continued her career in film and television ...
.
References
External links
Robert Draper Profile in the ''Austin Chronicle'': " Writer at Large," May 14, 1999
Jonathan Karl in ''The Wall Street Journal'' on ''Do Not Ask What Good We Do''
"Author Had Rare Access to Bush for 'Dead Certain' ". ''NPR'' Sep. 4, 2007.
"Kathleen Parker Fetes 'Brash' Author in Georgetown Home, Hems and Haws about Eliot Spitzer". "Mediabistro" May 2, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Robert
1959 births
Living people
American male journalists
20th-century American journalists
Place of birth missing (living people)
The New York Times writers
The New Yorker people
University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni
21st-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers