James Fallows
Encyclopedia
James Fallows is an American print and radio journalist. He has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly
for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect
, among others. He is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report, and as President Jimmy Carter
's chief speechwriter for two years was the youngest person ever to hold that job.
Fallows has been a visiting professor at a number of universities in the U.S. and China, and holds the Chair in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre
at University of Sydney
. He is the author of nine books, including National Defense, for which he received the 1983 National Book Award, Looking at the Sun (1994), Breaking the News (1996), Blind into Baghdad (2006), and Postcards from Tomorrow Square (2009).
, California
, and graduated from Redlands High School
. He studied American history and literature at Harvard College
, where he was the editor of the daily newspaper, The Harvard Crimson
. From 1970 to 1972 Fallows studied economics at the University of Oxford
as a Rhodes scholar. He subsequently worked as an editor and writer for The Washington Monthly
and Texas Monthly
magazines. For the first two years of the Carter administration he was Carter's chief speechwriter. From 1979 through 1996, he was the Washington Editor for The Atlantic. For two years of that time he was based in Texas, and for four years in Asia. He wrote for the magazine about immigration, defense policy, politics, economics, computer technology, and other subjects. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award five times and won in 2003, for "The Fifty-First State?" (The Atlantic, November 2002), which was published six months before the invasion of Iraq and laid out the difficulties of occupying the country. He won the American Book Award for National Defense and won a NY Emmy in 2010 for his role as host of a documentary series, "Doing Business in China".
Fallows's most influential articles have concerned military policy and military procurement, the college admissions process, technology, China and Japan, and the American war in Iraq
. Early in his career, he wrote an article called "What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?" (Washington Monthly, October 1975). It described the "draft physical" day at the Boston Navy Yard in 1970, in which Fallows and his Harvard and MIT classmates overwhelmingly produced reasons for medical exemptions, while the white working-class men of Chelsea were approved for service. He argued that the class bias of the Vietnam draft, which made it easy for influential and affluent families to avoid service, prolonged the war and that this was a truth many opponents of the war found convenient to overlook.
In the 1980s and 1990s Fallows was a frequent contributor of commentaries to National Public Radio's Morning Edition
, and since 2009 he has been the regular news analyst for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. From 1996 to 1998, he was the editor of US News & World Report. He was the founding chairman of the New America Foundation
, a nonprofit group based in Washington D.C.. During the 2000–2001 academic year, Fallows taught at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley
, and in 2010 he was the Vare Writer in Residence at the University of Chicago
. Starting in the 2010 academic year, he is a visiting Professor in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre
at the University of Sydney
.
He is an instrument-rated pilot, and in "Free Flight," published in 2001, he described the new generation of "personal jets" and other advanced aircraft now coming onto the market from Eclipse Aviation
and Cirrus Design
. Fallows has received numerous honorary degrees, including from the University of Utah
, the University of Maryland
, the University of Redlands
, Northwestern University
, and in 2008 Ursinus College
.
Fallows has had a long interest in technology, both writing about and helping to develop it. He's taken a special interest in personal information management
software, going back to Lotus Agenda
which he glowingly reviewed for The Atlantic in 1992 ("Of all the computer programs I have tried, Agenda is far and away the most interesting, and is one of the two or three most valuable") http://www.bobnewell.net/agenda/atlantic.txt.html. During the operating system wars of the early and mid-nineties, Fallows used and wrote about IBM's Operating System/2 (OS/2) and its battles with Windows, often frequenting the Canopus forum and online community on CompuServe. In 1999, he spent six months at Microsoft
designing software for writers. More recently, he has written about the design of the Open Source Applications Foundation's
information manager, code-named Chandler
. He was the on-stage host for the IDG Corporation's "Agenda" conference (no relation to Agenda software) in the early 2000s and of Google's "Zeitgeist" conference starting in 2005. He has written regular technology columns for the New York Times and The Atlantic.
, has identified himself as a Democrat and has been described by Politico and The Hill
, among other publications, as a liberal. According to journalist Howard Fineman
, Fallows also wrote policy memos to Democratic President Bill Clinton
.
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect
The American Prospect
The American Prospect is a monthly American political magazine dedicated to American liberalism. Based in Washington, DC, The American Prospect is a journal "of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics" which focuses on United States politics...
, among others. He is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report, and as President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's chief speechwriter for two years was the youngest person ever to hold that job.
Fallows has been a visiting professor at a number of universities in the U.S. and China, and holds the Chair in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre
United States Studies Centre
The United States Studies Centre is located at the University of Sydney, and aims to increase understanding of the United States in Australia. The centre provides courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and hosts public and business forums....
at University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. He is the author of nine books, including National Defense, for which he received the 1983 National Book Award, Looking at the Sun (1994), Breaking the News (1996), Blind into Baghdad (2006), and Postcards from Tomorrow Square (2009).
Career
Fallows was raised in RedlandsRedlands, California
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and graduated from Redlands High School
Redlands High School
Redlands High School is located in Redlands, California, United States. Founded in 1891, it is the oldest public high school in the State of California still functioning on its original site and the first "unified high school" formed from three elementary school districts...
. He studied American history and literature at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, where he was the editor of the daily newspaper, The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
. From 1970 to 1972 Fallows studied economics at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
as a Rhodes scholar. He subsequently worked as an editor and writer for The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
and Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazines. For the first two years of the Carter administration he was Carter's chief speechwriter. From 1979 through 1996, he was the Washington Editor for The Atlantic. For two years of that time he was based in Texas, and for four years in Asia. He wrote for the magazine about immigration, defense policy, politics, economics, computer technology, and other subjects. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award five times and won in 2003, for "The Fifty-First State?" (The Atlantic, November 2002), which was published six months before the invasion of Iraq and laid out the difficulties of occupying the country. He won the American Book Award for National Defense and won a NY Emmy in 2010 for his role as host of a documentary series, "Doing Business in China".
Fallows's most influential articles have concerned military policy and military procurement, the college admissions process, technology, China and Japan, and the American war in Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. Early in his career, he wrote an article called "What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?" (Washington Monthly, October 1975). It described the "draft physical" day at the Boston Navy Yard in 1970, in which Fallows and his Harvard and MIT classmates overwhelmingly produced reasons for medical exemptions, while the white working-class men of Chelsea were approved for service. He argued that the class bias of the Vietnam draft, which made it easy for influential and affluent families to avoid service, prolonged the war and that this was a truth many opponents of the war found convenient to overlook.
In the 1980s and 1990s Fallows was a frequent contributor of commentaries to National Public Radio's Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
, and since 2009 he has been the regular news analyst for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. From 1996 to 1998, he was the editor of US News & World Report. He was the founding chairman of the New America Foundation
New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind and Walter Russell Mead....
, a nonprofit group based in Washington D.C.. During the 2000–2001 academic year, Fallows taught at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and in 2010 he was the Vare Writer in Residence at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. Starting in the 2010 academic year, he is a visiting Professor in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre
United States Studies Centre
The United States Studies Centre is located at the University of Sydney, and aims to increase understanding of the United States in Australia. The centre provides courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and hosts public and business forums....
at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
He is an instrument-rated pilot, and in "Free Flight," published in 2001, he described the new generation of "personal jets" and other advanced aircraft now coming onto the market from Eclipse Aviation
Eclipse Aviation
Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet....
and Cirrus Design
Cirrus Design
The Cirrus Aircraft Corporation is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft....
. Fallows has received numerous honorary degrees, including from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, the University of Redlands
University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was donated by...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, and in 2008 Ursinus College
Ursinus College
Ursinus College is a liberal arts college in Collegeville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.-History:1867Members of the German Reformed Church begin plans to establish a college where "young men could be liberally educated under the benign influence of Christianity." These founders were hoping to...
.
Fallows has had a long interest in technology, both writing about and helping to develop it. He's taken a special interest in personal information management
Personal information management
Personal information management refers to the practice and the study of the activities people perform in order to acquire, organize, maintain, retrieve and use information items such as documents , web pages and email messages for everyday use to complete tasks and fulfill a person’s various...
software, going back to Lotus Agenda
Lotus Agenda
Agenda is a DOS-based personal information manager, designed by Mitch Kapor, Ed Belove and Jerry Kaplan, and marketed by Lotus Software.Lotus Agenda is a "free-form" information manager: the information need not be structured at all before it is entered into the database...
which he glowingly reviewed for The Atlantic in 1992 ("Of all the computer programs I have tried, Agenda is far and away the most interesting, and is one of the two or three most valuable") http://www.bobnewell.net/agenda/atlantic.txt.html. During the operating system wars of the early and mid-nineties, Fallows used and wrote about IBM's Operating System/2 (OS/2) and its battles with Windows, often frequenting the Canopus forum and online community on CompuServe. In 1999, he spent six months at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
designing software for writers. More recently, he has written about the design of the Open Source Applications Foundation's
Open Source Applications Foundation
The Open Source Applications Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 by Mitch Kapor whose purpose is to effect widespread adoption of free software/open-source software.-OSAF Mission:The mission of the OSAF is stated this way:...
information manager, code-named Chandler
Chandler (PIM)
Chandler is a personal information management software suite described by its developers as a "Note-to-Self Organizer" designed for personal and small-group task management and calendaring. It is free software, previously released under the GNU General Public License, and now released under the...
. He was the on-stage host for the IDG Corporation's "Agenda" conference (no relation to Agenda software) in the early 2000s and of Google's "Zeitgeist" conference starting in 2005. He has written regular technology columns for the New York Times and The Atlantic.
Politics
Fallows, a former speechwriter for Democratic President Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, has identified himself as a Democrat and has been described by Politico and The Hill
The Hill (newspaper)
The Hill, a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. since 1994.Its first editor was Martin Tolchin, a veteran correspondent in the Washington bureau of The New York Times....
, among other publications, as a liberal. According to journalist Howard Fineman
Howard Fineman
Howard Fineman is an American journalist who is senior politics editor at the Huffington Post. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek’s Chief Political Correspondent, Senior Editor and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC...
, Fallows also wrote policy memos to Democratic President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
Awards
Fallows received the National Book Award in 1983 for his book National Defense. He was a finalist at the National Magazine Award in the years 1988, 2006 (twice), 2007 and had won the award in 2003 for his article The Fifty-First State?. The documentary series On The Frontlines: Doing Business in China in which he participated as an editorial supervisor and co-host (together with Emily Chang) was awarded the 2010 Emmy Award.Books
- The Water Lords: Ralph Nader's study group report on industry and environmental crisis in Savannah, Georgia (1971). Grossman Publishers. ISBN 0-670-75160-X
- Who Runs Congress (1972). With Mark Green and David Zwick. Bantam.
- National Defense (1981). Random House. ISBN 0-394-51824-1
- More Like Us: Making America Great Again (1989). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-49857-0
- Looking at the Sun: The Rise of the New East Asian Economic and Political System (1994). Vintage Paperback (reprint ed, 1995) ISBN 0-679-76162-4
- Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy (1996). Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-44209-X. Vintage Paperback (1997) ISBN 0-679-75856-9
- Free Flight: Inventing the Future of Travel (2001). PublicAffairs Paperback (2002) ISBN 1-58648-140-1
- Blind into Baghdad: America's War in Iraq (2006). Vintage. ISBN 978-0-307-27796-1
- Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China (2009) Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-47262-5
External links
- Fallows' website.
- James Fallows profile, NNDB.
- Audio of lecture delivered to the World Affairs Council of Northern California.
- Audio/Video recording of James Fallows on his book Blind Into Baghdad: America's War in Iraq as part of the University of Chicago's World Beyond the Headlines series.
- Booknotes interview with Fallows on More Like Us, May 14, 1989.