''The War Room'' was a news and political commentary program on

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...

. It was initially hosted by former Governor of Michigan

Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-American lawyer, educator, author, political commentator, and politician serving as the 16th United States secretary of energy since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she pre ...

. The show debuted on January 30, 2012 and aired on weeknights followed by '' The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur'' and '' Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer''. "The War Room" is an allusion to the place where strategists plan a political campaign. Granholm had said that the program's stance would be

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

. Upon the departure of Granholm, ''The Young Turks'' contributor Michael Shure took up her role as the host. The show aired its final episode on August 15, 2013. Over its history the show was known as ''The War Room with Jennifer Granholm'' and ''The War Room with Michael Shure''.

History

President

David Bohrman David Bohrman (born April 30, 1954) is a television and new media executive, working in network television news, cable news, new media, internet, convergence and consulting. Bohrman created almost a dozen new TV news programs at ABC News, NBC New ...

said he, CEO

Joel Hyatt Joel Z. Hyatt (born Joel Hyatt Zylberberg; May 6, 1950) is an American entrepreneur and former politician. He founded Hyatt Legal Services, in which capacity he became a household name for many years, as he was featured in his firm's nationwide ...

and founder

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

first met Granholm in 2011 and were "immediately struck" by her television presence. The show was announced on October 12, 2011, and was intended to beef up Current's coverage of the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

. After signing with Current, Granholm also appeared as a contributor on the network's ''Politically Direct 2012'' coverage of Republican presidential debates and

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. ''The War Room''s debut airing on January 30, 2012 offered a glimpse into

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, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's reelection campaign headquarters in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. On January 3, 2013, Granholm announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that she was leaving the network due to the sale of the network to

Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN) (Arabic: الجزيرة‎, romanized: al-jazīrah, IPA: �l (d)ʒæˈziːrɐ , referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is a Qatari international state-owned public media conglomerate headquartered at Qatar Radio and Tele ...

. Her final show on Current TV was on February 7, 2013. She was replaced by ''The Young Turks'' regular Michael "Epic Politics Man" Shure until the transition to Al Jazeera America was complete. The final show was on August 15, 2013 with the end of all live programming on Current after which host Michael Shure became Al Jazeera America's main political contributor. The former studio for The War Room is now being used as the main studio by the Al Jazeera's all digital channel

AJ+ AJ, or variants, may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * A. J. (''The Fairly OddParents''), a fictional character * A.J. Soprano, a fictional character in ''The Sopranos'' * Superspinner AJ, a fictional character in t ...

Format

''The War Room'' focused on political news, commentary and opinion from newsmakers. The show's title is a reference to the place where strategists plot political campaigns. The show's set, which included an 82-inch

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

, is designed to resemble a so-called "war room". Granholm also covered "progressive heroes" who made a "positive difference" on the economy. Granholm professed to be

, "on the left end of the spectrum." According to her, "Democrats will love it. The far right will hate it. Those in the middle will appreciate it." She said as governor, she "had to be a pragmatic," and that the show "will be taking a deeper dive to solutions to the most pressing problems out there."

Segments

Regular segments included: *"What's Working": examining government policies *"The Big Money of Politics": the influence of money in politics *"State of our States": news from various states *"Shush, Brett’s Talking": featuring satirist

Brett Erlich Brett Evan Erlich (born March 1, 1982) is an American political comedian featured as a writer, producer and host on TV shows and Web sites. He is the executive producer of ''The Young Turks'' network, where he also appears as a host of "Happy Hal ...

. *"My View": Granholm's personal commentary on the issues of the day.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:War Room 2012 American television series debuts 2010s American television news shows Current TV original programming 2013 American television series endings