Evan Thomas
Encyclopedia
Evan Welling Thomas III (born 25 April 1951) is an American
journalist
and author
. He currently teaches journalism at Princeton University
.
and was raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York
. A graduate of Phillips Andover, Harvard University
, and the University of Virginia School of Law
, since 1991 he has been the assistant managing editor at Newsweek
. He formerly worked for TIME
. Thomas began his reporting career at The Bergen Record in New Jersey. He won his numerous journalism awards, including the National Magazine Award
in 1998 for Newsweek’s coverage of the Monica Lewinsky
scandal, and the 2009 Clarion award.
Thomas is a regular panelist on the weekly public affairs TV show "Inside Washington
".
On June 5, 2009, while being interviewed by Chris Matthews
on Hardball with Chris Matthews
, Thomas provoked controversy by stating that Barack Obama was "sort of God." In response to criticism of this comment, Thomas responded with the following:
and W. W. Norton & Company. His grandfather, Norman Thomas
, was a six-time Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America
.
He is married, and he and his wife, an attorney, are the parents of two daughters. They live in Washington, D.C.
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...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He currently teaches journalism at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Life and career
Thomas was born in Huntington, New YorkHuntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan...
and was raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,975.Cold Spring Harbor is in the Town of Huntington.-History:...
. A graduate of Phillips Andover, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...
, since 1991 he has been the assistant managing editor at Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. He formerly worked for TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. Thomas began his reporting career at The Bergen Record in New Jersey. He won his numerous journalism awards, including the National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
in 1998 for Newsweek’s coverage of the Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
scandal, and the 2009 Clarion award.
Thomas is a regular panelist on the weekly public affairs TV show "Inside Washington
Inside Washington
Inside Washington is a political roundtable show hosted by WJLA news anchor and chief political reporter Gordon Peterson. It is produced by Allbritton, owner of WJLA, and distributed to PBS stations nationwide by American Public Television...
".
On June 5, 2009, while being interviewed by Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
on Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, Thomas provoked controversy by stating that Barack Obama was "sort of God." In response to criticism of this comment, Thomas responded with the following:
What I said was: "In a way, Obama's standing above the country, above -- above the world, a sort of god." I was not being literal. During a discussion about presidential rhetoric, I was comparing Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald 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 patriotic appeals with Obama's attempt to transcend parochialism.
Family
He is the son of Anna Davis (née Robins) and Evan Welling Thomas II, an editor who worked for HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
and W. W. Norton & Company. His grandfather, Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
, was a six-time Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
.
He is married, and he and his wife, an attorney, are the parents of two daughters. They live in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Works
- Robert Kennedy: The Empathetic Leader in Walter Isaacson (ed.) Profiles in Leadership (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011)
- The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898, Little, Brown and Company, 2010, ISBN 9780316004091
- A Long Time Coming: The Inspiring, Combative 2008 Campaign and the Historic Election of Barack Obama, PublicAffairs, 2009, ISBN 9781586486075
- Sea of Thunder: Four Naval Commanders and the Last Sea War, Simon and Schuster, 2007, ISBN 9780743252225
- John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy, Simon and Schuster, 2004, ISBN 9780743258043
- Robert Kennedy: His Life, Simon & Schuster, 2000, ISBN 9780684834801
- Back from the dead: how Clinton survived the Republican revolution, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997, ISBN 9780871136893
- The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, Simon and Schuster, 1996, ISBN 9780684825380
- The Man to See: The Life of Edward Bennett Williams Simon and Schuster, 1992, ISBN 9780671792114
- The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made, Walter IsaacsonWalter IsaacsonWalter Isaacson is a writer and biographer. He is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of TIME...
, Evan Thomas, Simon and Schuster, 1986; Simon and Schuster, 1997, ISBN 9780684837710