Chris Matthews
Christopher "Chris" Matthews (born December 17, 1945 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) is an American television presenter . He is best known as a political commentator on various American evening news programs and as the host of various political talk show formats ( Hardball with Chris Matthews , The Chris Matthews Show ). On March 2, 2020, he announced at the beginning of the broadcast that this edition of Hardball would be his last, that he was retiring; Steve Kornacki moderated the rest of the episode .
Life
Matthews was born in Philadelphia in 1945 to a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. He attended La Salle College High School , later the College of the Holy Cross . In 1967 he submitted his thesis in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Afterwards he was a member of the American Peace Corps in Swaziland as a development aid worker from 1968 to 1970 as an alternative to military service . In particular, he acted as an advisor on trade issues.
In 1964, Matthews still supported the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater . Under the influence of the anti- Vietnam war campaign of the Democrat Eugene McCarthy, he turned into a supporter of the Democratic Party in the late 1960s.
In the early 1970s, Matthews came to Washington, DC , where he was initially a member of the Capitol Police . He then worked for some of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives , eventually serving on the staff of Democratic Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie for five years . Matthews' own candidacy for the House of Representatives in 1974 failed. He was defeated in the Democratic primary for the congressional nomination in the fourth constituency of Pennsylvania to the opposing candidate Joshua Eilberg and received only 23% of the votes. From 1976 to 1980, Matthews was speechwriter for then US President Jimmy Carter . During the 1980s, Matthews served on the staff of the Chairman of the House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill , for six years .
In 1987 Matthews started working as a journalist. For the next 13 years he headed the office of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper . He then contributed columns to the San Francisco Chronicle for two years . In 1997 Matthews got his own talk show Hardball with Chris Matthews , which was originally broadcast by CNBC , but is now on the MSNBC news channel . The very name of the show - which means something like the moderator putting on "hard bandages" when dealing with and questioning his political guests - refers to its concept, important figures in political life (especially journalists and other opinion makers) To feel tooth. In 2002 he was given a further broadcast format with the talk show The Chris Matthews Show .
Matthews, whose annual income is estimated at five million US dollars, has been considered one of the most popular and most respected figures in the American news landscape since the mid-1990s. Conservative circles repeatedly confront Matthews with the accusation that he has too little distance from the Democratic Party and that his programs show a clear tendency for the positions and politics of the Democrats. Matthews himself has stressed on various occasions that he would consider himself more of a moderate conservative. As evidence of this self-assessment, he has pointed out, for example, that he voted for the Republican George W. Bush in the US presidential election in 2000 .
After the Bush administration took office in the spring of 2001, however, Matthews quickly became one of the most prominent critics of the Republican administration. In 2002/2003 he spoke out strongly against a renewed war in Iraq ; in later years he accused the Bush administration of having been “ caught in acts of criminality ”.
In the primary campaign for the nomination for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Matthews has been in favor of Barack Obama since 2007 . In the Democratic primary, Matthews attracted attention for his skeptical attitude towards Obama's competitor Hillary Clinton , which earned him sexism allegations. After Obama's victory in the Democratic nomination contest, Matthews has repeatedly voted for him as the most suitable man for president. He praised the Democrats in almost hymn-like tones by describing his appearance on the political stage in words of salvation history: " Obama comes around, and this is the new testament ."
family
Matthews is married to Kathleen Matthews, who previously hosted News 7 on WJLA-TV and currently serves as vice president of ABC . The marriage resulted in three children: Michael, Thomas and Caroline.
In 2002 Matthews was treated for malaria .
Fonts
- Hardball. How Politics is Played
- Kennedy and Nixon. The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America
- Now Let Me Tell You What I Really Think
- American. Beyond Our Grandest Notions
- Life's a Campaign. What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success , 2007.
- Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero , 2011.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chris Matthews Unexpectedly Retires On-Air. In: slate.com. March 3, 2020, accessed on March 3, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Matthews, Chris |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Matthews, Christopher (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American television presenter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Philadelphia , Pennsylvania |