Eleanor Clift became a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine in September 1994. She writes on the Washington power structure, the influence of women in politics and other issues. She is currently assigned to follow the jockeying over policy and politics in a divided Congress where the two parties share power, and where President Obama faces major opposition. Clift brings her political perspective to analyze what lessons Obama and the newly empowered Republicans have learned, and how both sides are gearing up for the 2012 presidential election.
Clift is a regular panelist on the syndicated talk show, The McLaughlin Group. She has appeared as herself in several movies, including Dave, Independence Day, Murder at 1600, Rising Sun, and the CBS series, Murphy Brown.
Clift and her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, who was a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote two books together, War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics and Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling. Clift's book, Founding Sisters, is about the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the vote. Her most recent book, Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics, is about the loss of her husband together with an examination of how we deal with death in America.
Formerly Newsweek's White House correspondent, Clift also served as congressional and political correspondent for six years. She was a key member of the magazine's 1992 election team, following the campaign of Bill Clinton from the start to inauguration day. In June 1992 she was named Deputy Washington bureau chief.
As a reporter in Newsweek's Atlanta bureau, Clift covered Jimmy Carter's bid for the presidency. She followed Carter to Washington to become Newsweek's White House correspondent, a position she held until 1985. Clift began her career as a secretary to Newsweek's National Affairs editor in New York. She was one of the first women at the magazine to move from secretary to reporter.
Clift left Newsweek briefly in 1985 to serve as White House correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. She returned to Newsweek the following year to cover the Iran-Contra scandal, which embroiled President Reagan and tarnished his administration. Clift has covered every presidential campaign since 1976, and was part of Newsweek's special project team following the 1984, 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections, each of which resulted in a book. The most recent, A Long Time Coming, written by Evan Thomas and based on the Newsweek team's reporting (Public Affairs, 2009), chronicles the history-making campaign of Barack Obama.
Clift lives in Washington, D.C., where she is on the board of the International Women's Media Foundation, the Center for Politics and Journalism, and the National Hospice Foundation.
Eleanor Clift, Political Analyst for the Fox News Channel, is available through IMG Speakers bureau for speaking engagements. Eleanor Clift is also available for panel discussions, moderating and emceeing/hosting opportunities, and much more. Please contact IMG Speakers at 212-774-6735 or speakers@imgworld.com for more information on booking Eleanor Clift.
