Eleanor Clift


Eleanor Clift is a contributing editor for Newsweek. She regularly reports on the White House, Congress and the diverse personalities who make up the Washington power structure.

Clift is a key member of the magazine's political team. She followed the campaign of Bill Clinton from its start, and in June 1992 was named deputy Washington bureau chief. She played a key role in Newsweek's Special Election Project, assembling a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the 2000 presidential campaign and First Lady Hillary Clinton's historic run for the U.S. Senate.

Clift became Newsweek's White House Correspondent when Jimmy Carter was elected and held the position through Ronald Reagan�s first term. In 1985, she left Newsweek to cover the Reagan administration for the Los Angeles Times. A year later she returned to Newsweek and a new assignment as the magazine�s congressional and political correspondent, a position which she held for six years. After Clinton�s election in 1992, Clift returned to the White House beat for the first two years of the Clinton administration.

Clift is also a political analyst for the Fox News Network. She has appeared on many national television shows, including ABC's Nightline and Good Morning America, NBC�s The Today Show, CNN's Crossfire and PBS�s The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Playing herself - as a member of The McLaughlin Group - Clift has appeared in several films, including Independence Day, Rising Sun, Murder at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and Dave, as well as the CBS series, Murphy Brown.

Clift and her husband, Tom Brazaitis, co-wrote the book, War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics (Scribner, June 1996), also available in paperback (Touchstone Books, November 1997). Clift also co-authored Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Scribner, July 2000), which forecasts the prospects for a woman on the national ticket. Her latest book is: Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (October 2003).

Clift lives in Washington, D.C., and is the mother of three children.