Thomas Edwin "Tom" Ricks (born September 25, 1955)
[ is an American journalist and author who specializes in the military and national security issues. He is a two-time winner of the ]Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National.
Li ...
as part of teams from 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 ...
'' (2000) and ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' (2002). He has reported on military activities in Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
, Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
, Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
, Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...
, Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...
, Macedonia, Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...
, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
, and Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He previously wrote a blog for ''Foreign Policy
A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...
'' and is a member of the Center for a New American Security
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is a Washington, D.C. based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy, board member of military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, and Kurt M. Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Paci ...
, a defense policy 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, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...
.
Ricks lectures widely to the military and is a member of Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
's Senior Advisory Council on the Project on U.S. Civil-Military Relations. Ricks is the author of several nonfiction books including '' Making the Corps'' (1997); the bestselling '' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq'' (2006) and its follow-up, '' The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008'' (2009); the bestselling '' First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country'' (2020); and ''Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968'' (2022).
Life and career
Ricks was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, and grew up in New York and Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
, one of six children. He is the son of Anne and David Frank Ricks, a professor of psychology
Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
. He attended the American International School in Kabul (1968–1970), including his freshman year
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
of high school. He graduated from Scarsdale High School (1973).[
After earning a B.A. from ]Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
(1977), he was an instructor at Lingnan College, Hong Kong (1977–1979), and assistant editor at the ''Wilson Quarterly
''The Wilson Quarterly'' is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. It is noted for its nonpartisan, non-ideolo ...
'' (1979–1981). At the ''Wall Street Journal'' he was a reporter (1982–1985) and deputy Miami bureau chief (1986). In Washington, D.C., he was a ''Journal'' reporter (1987–1989), feature editor (1989–1992), and Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be sim ...
correspondent, (1992–1999). He was a military correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
at the ''Washington Post'' (2000–2008).[
]
While at the ''Wall Street Journal'', he was one of the reporters writing the "Price of Power" series discussing United States defense spending and potential changes confronting the US military following the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
. The series won the ''Journal'' the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National.
Li ...
. He won a second Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National.
Li ...
as part of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' team for reporting about the beginnings of the U.S. counteroffensive against terrorism.
Ricks was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
for his book '' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq''.
Ricks was immensely critical of Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...
' coverage of the 2012 Benghazi attack
The 2012 Benghazi attack was a coordinated attack against two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia.
On September 11, 2012, at 9:40 pm local time, members of Ansar al ...
. While being interviewed by Jon Scott
Jonathan Arthur Scott (born November 7, 1958) is an American television news anchor who hosts '' Fox Report Weekend'' on Fox News. Also, Scott is the lead anchor for any breaking news each weekend. Jon Scott longtime co-anchored ''Happening Now ...
, Ricks accused Fox News of being "extremely political" in its coverage of the attack and stated, "Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
."
Books
Nonfiction
* '' Making the Corps''. Scribner, 1997. ISBN 0684848171
* '' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq''. Penguin Group, 2006.
* '' The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008''. The Penguin Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59420-197-4
* ''The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today''. Penguin Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-59420-404-3
* ''Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom''. Penguin Press, 2017. ISBN 978-1-59420-613-9
* '' First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country''. Harper, 2020. ISBN 978-0-06-299745-6
* ''Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022. ISBN 978-0-374-60516-2
Fiction
* ''A Soldier's Duty''. Random House, 2001. ISBN 978-0-375-50544-7
References
External links
''Foreign Policy'' bio
Ricks discusses ''Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq''
at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its sp ...
on October 5, 2006
Ricks discusses ''The Gamble: General David Petraeus & the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008''
at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its sp ...
on September 10, 2009
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricks, Thomas E.
1955 births
Living people
American foreign policy writers
American male non-fiction writers
The Atlantic (magazine) people
Historians of the Iraq War
People from Beverly, Massachusetts
People from Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale High School alumni
The Wall Street Journal people
The Washington Post people
Writers from Massachusetts
Writers from New York (state)
Yale University alumni
Harvard Kennedy School people
Historians of the civil rights movement