Biography

Eleanor Clift is a columnist for the Daily Beast, an online publication. She writes about politics and policy in Washington, and the partisan clashes that make governing almost impossible. Clift has covered every presidential campaign since 1976 and bring her perspective to analyze the dynamics between an unconventional president and his party, and an opposition party still licking its wounds over its loss in 2016. Clift is best known as a panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group,” which ended a 34-year run with the death of the host in 2016. 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 (Scribner, 1996), and Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Scribner, 2000). Madam President is available in paperback (Routledge Press). Clift’s book, Founding Sisters, is about the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the vote (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). Her recent book, Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics (Basic Books, 2008) is about the loss of her husband together with an examination of how we deal with death in America. Selecting a President, written with Matthew Spieler (Thomas Dunne Books), published in 2012, examines the process that for all its flaws is better than the alternative. 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 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. C

lift lives in Washington, D.C., where she is on the advisory council of the International Women’s Media Foundation, the board of the American News Women’s Club, the Board of Governor’s of the National Hospice Foundation, and the board of Respect Ability, which advocates for people with disabilities.

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Political Activism

Donald Trump won the Electoral College and Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, a split decision that underscores the divisive nature of our politics. Trump says as president he will continue to hold his signature rallies while Democrats vow to take to the streets if necessary to protest Trump from thinking he has a mandate. Aside from marching, can Democrats turn their disappointment in the 2016 election outcome into a new political activism that can rebuild the party?

Media and Politics

The media took a lot of heat for how they covered the 2016 election, and how they forecast a Hillary Clinton win for months, dismissing Donald Trump as a clown and potentially affecting the outcome. How does the media adjust to Trump’s Reality Show style of politics where facts are often disregarded and fake news is more believed than reported news stories? Clift can talk personally about the changing media landscape. After spending most of her career at Newsweek magazine, she made the conversion to new media and writes for the Daily Beast web site.

Women and Politics

Hillary Clinton’s failed second bid for the presidency reminds us that sexism is still evident in the way a female candidate is covered. A woman will eventually break the highest, hardest glass ceiling. The 2016 election brought four new accomplished Democratic women to the U.S. Senate, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will have a visible role as Ambassador to the United Stations in the new administration. Who are the up and comers?

President Trump: The Peril and the Promise

Two thirds of voters had doubts about Donald Trump’s fitness to be president, yet they voted for him anyway because they wanted someone to shake up Washington. Will Trump deliver on his campaign promises?

Media

The shrinking role of the mainstream media and its impact on politics. Can newspapers survive? Does anybody under 30 give a hoot if they don't? Barack Obama won the presidency in part because he understood the new tools of communication and mobilized them to his advantage. He lost that connection when he became immersed in governing. His re-election hinges on his ability to get all those new voters he inspired in ’08 back to the polls in 2012. Clift can talk personally about the changing media landscape now that Newsweek is merging with the Daily Beast and will be under the editorial direction of Tina Brown, the iconic editor of our age.

Booksby Eleanor Clift

Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling

War Without Bloodshed

Two Weeks of Life

Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment

For Meeting Planners

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