Chris Wallace (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American
journalist
, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday
. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award
. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003. As a previous moderator of Meet the Press
, Wallace is the only person to date to have served as host/moderator of more than one of the major Sunday political talk shows.
, longtime CBS
60 Minutes
reporter, and Norma Kaphan. His parents divorce
d when he was one year old. He grew up with his stepfather, eventual CBS News
President, Bill Leonard
. He did not develop a relationship with his biological father until the age of 14. Leonard gave him early exposure to political journalism
, hiring him as an assistant to Walter Cronkite
at the 1964 Republican National Convention
.
Wallace attended Harvard College
. He first reported news on-air for WHRB
, the student radio station at Harvard. He memorably covered the 1969 occupation of University Hall by students and was detained by Cambridge
police, using his one phone call to sign off a report from Cambridge City Jail. Wallace is of Scottish
heritage.
Although accepted at Harvard Law School
, Wallace instead took a job with the Boston Globe. He says he realized he wanted to move to television when he noticed all the reporters at the 1972 political convention
s were watching the proceedings on TV instead of in person. For a time in the early 1970s, he worked for Chicago CBS owned-and-operated station WBBM-TV
.
in 1975, where he stayed for 14 years, as a reporter with WNBC-TV in New York City
. Wallace then transferred to NBC's Washington bureau as a political correspondent for NBC News
, and later served as Washington co-anchor for the Today show in 1982. He also served as chief White House
correspondent (1982–89), moderator of Meet the Press
(1987–88), and anchor of the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News
. Wallace's confrontational style was evident during President Ronald Reagan
's news conference in March 1987, when Reagan admitted to dealing arms for hostages. During his questioning, Wallace asked Reagan why he had denied that Israel was involved with the arms sales to Iran "when you knew that wasn't true."
Wallace left NBC in 1989 for ABC
. At ABC News
, Wallace was the senior correspondent for Primetime Thursday
and occasionally hosted Nightline. During the first Gulf War
in 1991, he reported from Tel Aviv
on the Iraq
i Scud
missiles attacks. At the time, the Israeli Government did not want to advertise where the Scuds landed, in order to prevent the Iraqis from making adjustments to their launchers. On one episode of Nightline, Wallace started describing the location in Tel Aviv where a Scud missile landed. Nightline host Ted Koppel
cut him off, respecting Israeli national security needs.
After another 14 years at ABC, Wallace left in 2003 to join the Fox News Channel
. He has remarked in the past that his work at Fox opened his eyes to what critics cite as bias in the mainstream press
. Wallace has stated, "Fox News wouldn't exist if it weren't for this kind of stuff going on in the mainstream media. That's why people are fed up with that and want the antidote to it because they get it and they've gotten it for years - the so-called bias in the objective press." Wallace currently hosts Fox News Sunday
with Chris Wallace, and is an occasional guest on the Howie Carr
show on Boston
's WRKO.
, his stepfather, Bill Leonard, had far more of an impact on his life. Chris Wallace first developed a relationship with his father in his teens, after his older brother Peter died climbing a mountain in Greece
. After Leonard's death in 1994, he and his father became even closer. Mike Wallace remarks that they talk at least once a week.
Chris Wallace is married to Lorraine Wallace and is father to four children,
Peter, Margaret, Andrew, and Catherine, from a previous marriage with Margaret Farrell.
, insisting that being a Democrat is the only feasible means of participating in the political process in heavily Democratic Washington, D.C. He maintained he had voted for candidates from both major parties in the past.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is a public affairs program on the Fox network, hosted by Chris Wallace and airing on Sunday mornings. The show began on April 28, 1996, which predated the launch of Fox News Channel, and usually talks about items similar to Sunday morning talk shows...
. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003. As a previous moderator of Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
, Wallace is the only person to date to have served as host/moderator of more than one of the major Sunday political talk shows.
Early life and early career
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
, longtime CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
reporter, and Norma Kaphan. His parents divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d when he was one year old. He grew up with his stepfather, eventual CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
President, Bill Leonard
Bill Leonard (journalist)
William A. "Bill" Leonard 2d , American journalist and television executive who served as President of CBS News from 1979 to 1982.-Life and career:...
. He did not develop a relationship with his biological father until the age of 14. Leonard gave him early exposure to political journalism
Political journalism
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power....
, hiring him as an assistant to Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
at the 1964 Republican National Convention
1964 Republican National Convention
The 1964 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States took place in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, on July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had only been one national Republican convention on the West Coast...
.
Wallace attended Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. He first reported news on-air for WHRB
WHRB
WHRB is a commercial FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It broadcasts at 95.3 MHz and is operated by students at Harvard College.-History:...
, the student radio station at Harvard. He memorably covered the 1969 occupation of University Hall by students and was detained by Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
police, using his one phone call to sign off a report from Cambridge City Jail. Wallace is of Scottish
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
heritage.
Although accepted at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, Wallace instead took a job with the Boston Globe. He says he realized he wanted to move to television when he noticed all the reporters at the 1972 political convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
s were watching the proceedings on TV instead of in person. For a time in the early 1970s, he worked for Chicago CBS owned-and-operated station WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
.
Network and cable television journalist
Wallace began his network journalism career with NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in 1975, where he stayed for 14 years, as a reporter with WNBC-TV in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Wallace then transferred to NBC's Washington bureau as a political correspondent for NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, and later served as Washington co-anchor for the Today show in 1982. He also served as chief White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
correspondent (1982–89), moderator of Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
(1987–88), and anchor of the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
. Wallace's confrontational style was evident during President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's news conference in March 1987, when Reagan admitted to dealing arms for hostages. During his questioning, Wallace asked Reagan why he had denied that Israel was involved with the arms sales to Iran "when you knew that wasn't true."
Wallace left NBC in 1989 for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. At ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, Wallace was the senior correspondent for Primetime Thursday
Primetime (TV series)
Primetime is an American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live.-Early history:...
and occasionally hosted Nightline. During the first Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in 1991, he reported from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
on the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i Scud
Scud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
missiles attacks. At the time, the Israeli Government did not want to advertise where the Scuds landed, in order to prevent the Iraqis from making adjustments to their launchers. On one episode of Nightline, Wallace started describing the location in Tel Aviv where a Scud missile landed. Nightline host Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel
Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
cut him off, respecting Israeli national security needs.
After another 14 years at ABC, Wallace left in 2003 to join the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. He has remarked in the past that his work at Fox opened his eyes to what critics cite as bias in the mainstream press
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
. Wallace has stated, "Fox News wouldn't exist if it weren't for this kind of stuff going on in the mainstream media. That's why people are fed up with that and want the antidote to it because they get it and they've gotten it for years - the so-called bias in the objective press." Wallace currently hosts Fox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is a public affairs program on the Fox network, hosted by Chris Wallace and airing on Sunday mornings. The show began on April 28, 1996, which predated the launch of Fox News Channel, and usually talks about items similar to Sunday morning talk shows...
with Chris Wallace, and is an occasional guest on the Howie Carr
Howie Carr
Howard Louis "Howie" Carr, Jr. is an American journalist, author, and conservative radio talk-show host based in Boston with a listening audience rooted in New England.-Radio:...
show on Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's WRKO.
Personal life
Despite Wallace's blood relationship with his father MikeMike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
, his stepfather, Bill Leonard, had far more of an impact on his life. Chris Wallace first developed a relationship with his father in his teens, after his older brother Peter died climbing a mountain in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. After Leonard's death in 1994, he and his father became even closer. Mike Wallace remarks that they talk at least once a week.
Chris Wallace is married to Lorraine Wallace and is father to four children,
Peter, Margaret, Andrew, and Catherine, from a previous marriage with Margaret Farrell.
Registered Democratic
On October 11, 2006, The Washington Post revealed that Wallace had been a registered Democrat for more than two decades. Wallace explained his party affiliation in terms of pragmatismPragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
, insisting that being a Democrat is the only feasible means of participating in the political process in heavily Democratic Washington, D.C. He maintained he had voted for candidates from both major parties in the past.
External links
- Fox News biography
- Transcript of Clinton interview
- Transcript of Follow-up on Clinton interview
- Chris Wallace, Caught Off Balance?
- Transcript of Rice interview
- Son of '60 Minutes' icon makes his own mark at Fox News
- Wallace: 'Nightline' tribute had an agenda
- The Confederate Flag: "A Controversial Symbol" Transcript of a Nightline program hosted by Chris Wallace.
- NNDB Profile
- Article "Chris Wallace: Mike Wallace Has 'Lost It'"