Mort Kondracke
- ️Fri Apr 28 1939
| Morton M. Kondracke | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | April 28, 1939 (age 72) Chicago, IL |
| Education | Dartmouth College Georgetown University |
| Occupation | Executive Editor - Roll Call |
| Spouse(s) | Millicent Martinez (Deceased) Marguerite Sallee (2006-Present) |
| Children | Andrea Alexandra |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Official website |
Morton M. Kondracke (pronounced /kənˈdræki/; born April 28, 1939) is an American political commentator and journalist. He gained great visibility via a long stint as a panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Kondracke worked for several leading publications, serving for twenty years as executive editor and columnist for the non-partisan Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. He was also co-host of The Beltway Boys on Fox News Channel and is a regular nightly contributor on Special Report with Bret Baier.
Professional career
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kondracke graduated from Joliet Township High School in 1956, and from Dartmouth College in 1960. While at Dartmouth, he majored in English and was president of The Dartmouth newspaper.[1] After college, Kondracke joined the U.S. Army and served in Washington, DC in the Counter Intelligence Corps while pursuing graduate work at Georgetown University and working part time for the Washington Star. After leaving the Army in 1963, Kondracke joined the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times, moving to the paper's Washington bureau in 1968, eventually working his way up to White House correspondent in 1974. In that role, he landed on the master list of Nixon political opponents.[2]
Kondracke left the Sun-Times in 1977 to become executive editor of The New Republic. He worked there until 1985 when he left to become Washington Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine. In the meantime, his increased profile led to commentary positions at National Public Radio, This Week with David Brinkley and The Wall Street Journal.
In 1982, he joined The McLaughlin Group as one of the original panelists, a position he held for 16 years. Moderator John McLaughlin consistently teased him by pronouncing his name "MORE-tahn", emphasizing the two syllables separately.
In 1984, he was a panelist for the second televised debate (on foreign policy) between President Ronald Reagan and Democratic challenger Walter Mondale.
In 1991, Kondracke began serving as executive editor of Roll Call, retiring in 2011.[3] In October 1998, he began co-hosting his own show, The Beltway Boys, with Fred Barnes on the Fox News Channel. He was also a regular nightly contributor on Special Report with Brit Hume on the same network. Kondracke also writes a twice-weekly column in "Roll Call" ["Pennsylvania Avenue"] that is syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association, part of United Media.
In the 1996 sci-fi film Independence Day, Mort Kondracke appears in the beginning of the movie on a morning talk show speaking about the ineffectual leadership of President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) saying, "Leadership as a pilot in the Gulf War has no relationship to political leadership. It's a different animal."[4]
Personal life
In 1967, Kondracke married Millicent Martinez, a half Jewish, half Mexican liberal activist. They had two children, filmmaker Alexandra and Andrea, now a medical doctor. Kondracke battled alcoholism during the 1980s, and he credits Millicent for helping him end his addiction by 1987. In 1988, Millicent was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Her long battle with the disease led Kondracke to become an advocate for Parkinson's research and for increased government spending on medical research. Millicent Kondracke grew increasingly incapacitated by the disease and died on July 22, 2004.
Kondracke detailed his family's struggle with Parkinson's in a 2001 book called Saving Milly: Love, Politics, and Parkinson's Disease (ISBN 0-345-45197-X). The book was the basis of a CBS television movie called Saving Milly, starring Madeleine Stowe and Bruce Greenwood, which aired March 13, 2005.
On May 29, 2006, Kondracke married Marguerite Sallee, CEO of America's Promise.[5]
References
- ^ Berger, Greg. "Alumni Council selects candidates for Board of Trustees". The Dartmouth. http://thedartmouth.com/2009/12/02/news/bot/. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ Facts on File
- ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/roll-calls-kondracke-to-retire_b32040
- ^ [1]
- ^ Gossip Roundup: Vintage Twins
External links
- Roll Call newspaper
- FOX News biography
- Dartmouth College biography (defective link)
- "Kondracke Confronts the Pain and Politics of Parkinson's Disease", Tech Central Station, June 7, 2001
- "Reflections on Nelson Rockefeller's legacy" Dartmouth Life Newspaper, May, 2008