George Will Biography

(Political Commentator and Author)

Birthday: May 4, 1941 (Taurus)

Born In: Champaign, Illinois

Regarded as one of the most popular and influential Americans writers of the present times, George Will’s columns have appeared in a number of newspapers and journals. He is known for his conservative commentary on politics and believes in conserving the traditional values of America by not giving in to the free-market trend. He has written for more than 450 newspapers, has a column in Newsweek that appears twice a week and has appeared as a political commentator on ABC. He is considered to be one of the most recognized and widely read writers in America. He occasionally writes for ‘The London Daily Telegraph’ and is also a television news analyst for Capital Cities/ABC News Television Group. His career has been under scrutiny for a very long time with controversies regarding various topics surrounding him. His columns address a wide array of subjects ranging from politics to baseball. He is a hardcore baseball fan with Chicago Clubs being his favourite. He is a man of many views, whether political, social or economical. A peace lover, he was of the view that America should withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Socially, he argues that death penalty should be abolished and higher punishment levels could make the place safer. He stands for low taxes as they enable a high moral ground and more economic growth. He was named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal in 1997.

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Quick Facts

Also Known As: George Frederick Will

Age: 82 Years, 82 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Mari Maseng (m. 1991), Madeleine Will (m. 1967–1989)

father: Frederick L. Will

mother: Louise Hendrickson Will

children: David Will, Geoffrey Will, Jonathan Will, Victoria Will

Born Country: United States

Journalists American Men

political ideology: Conservative Party

U.S. State: Illinois

More Facts

education: University Laboratory High School, Trinity College, Princeton University, University of Oxford

awards: 1977 - Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
1978 - Headliner Award for consistently outstanding feature columns
1980 - Silurian Award for editorial writing

1991 - Silurian Award for editorial writing
1991 - Clarion Awards from Women in Communications
1991 - Cronkite Award by Arizona State University
1992 - Madison Medal Award by Princeton University
1993 - William Allen White Award by William Allen White School of Journalism
2003 - Walter B. Wriston Lecture Award by The Manhattan Institute
2005 - Bradley Prize by The Bradley Foundation
2006 - Champion of Liberty Award by Goldwater Institute


Childhood & Early Life
He was born to Frederick L. Will, a philosophy professor, and Louise Hendrickson Will, a high school teacher, in Illinois.
He attended University Laboratory High school of Urbana, Illinois and received his B.A. from Trinity College, Connecticut.
He went to Magdalen College, University of Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics. He received his MA and PhD in politics from Princeton University in 1967.
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Career
Will served on the staff of Senator Gordon from 1970 to 1972 before teaching political philosophy at the James Madison College of Michigan State University and the University of Toronto.
In 1974, he joined the Washington Post Writers Group and started writing a syndicated bi-weekly column that still continues to appear on Thursdays and Sundays.
He became a contributing editor for ‘Newsweek’ in 1976 and wrote a bi-weekly column until 2011. He worked as the Washington editor of the ‘National Review’ in 1978.
He served as a television commentator for ‘Argonsky and Company’ (1977-84) and NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ from mid to late 1980’s. He has also been working as a news analyst for ABC since the early 1980’s.
Many controversies have surrounded him during his long and successful career. He, for one, was accused of being unprofessional and helping Ronald Reagan prepare for his 1980 presidential debate. Reagan’s opponent Jimmy Carter had also accused him of giving Ronald Reagan a top-secret briefing book that was apparently stolen from Carter’s office.
He was criticized regarding his dealings with Conrad Black who was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the year 2007.
Will had rattled a lot of cages when he reported the offshore drilling by China near South Florida in 2008. He gave incorrect data regarding the global sea ice level in 2009 for which he attracted the wrath of environmentalists.
Presently, he works as a contributing analyst with ABC News Channel and has also appeared every Sunday morning on ABC’s ‘This Week’ since 1981.
Major Works
A highly successful journalist, his columns have appeared in over 450 newspapers and he has also appeared as a television commentator for various news channels.
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His book on baseball, ‘Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball’ (1990), became a bestseller and reached the No. 1 position in the national bestseller list and stayed there for more than two months.
Awards & Achievements
In 1977, Will received the prestigious ‘Pulitzer Prize’ for ‘distinguished commentary on a variety of topics’.
In 1978 ‘The National Headliners Award’ was awarded to Will for his ‘consistently outstanding special features columns’ that appeared in ‘Newsweek’.
He was awarded the ‘Silurian Award’ for editorial writing twice: 1980 and 1991.
He was named ‘the best writer, any subject’, by The Washington Journalism Review in January, 1985.
Personal Life & Legacy
Will and Madeleine Marion married in 1967. They had three children. His son Jonathan was born with Down syndrome—a topic Will occasionally writes about in his columns. After 22 years of marriage they separated in 1989.
He married Mari Maseng, a political consultant and speechwriter, in 1991. They have a son and presently live in Washington D.C.
Trivia
He was called ‘perhaps the most powerful journalist in America’ by the Wall Street Journal in 1986.
He is a founding member on the panel of ABC’s ‘This week With David Brinkley’, which is now titled ‘This Week with George Stephanopoulos’.

See the events in life of George Will in Chronological Order

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