Ronald Kessler
Ronald Borek Kessler (born December 31, 1943), an American journalist and author. He is best known as the chief Washington correspondent for the conservative news and commentary Website Newsmax.
Career
1964-1985
Kessler began his career as a journalist in 1964 on the Worcester Telegram, followed by three years as an investigative reporter and editorial writer with the Boston Herald. In 1968, he joined the Wall Street Journal as a reporter in the New York bureau. He became an investigative reporter with the Washington Post in 1970 and continued as a staff writer until 1985.
Newsmax
Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of NewsMax, a conservative Website and magazine. The Website averages 4.1 million unique visitors a month, and the magazine claims a readership of 600,000.
His stories for Newsmax have included interviews with President Bush, Donald Trump, Andy Card, CIA Director Michael Hayden, Mitt Romney, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Lynne Cheney, Jim Cramer, Deborah Norville, Dana Perino, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, Brian Lamb, Margaret Spellings, Jeb Bush, and Fran Townsend.
Books
Kessler has authored seventeen non-fiction books.
His first was The Life Insurance Game, in 1985. His subjects since then have ranged from the FBI and CIA to George Bush, Laura Bush, Joseph P. Kennedy, and Palm Beach. His latest book was The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack.
Awards
Kessler has won sixteen journalism awards, including:
- Two George Polk Awards, one for national reporting and one for community service.
- The Sigma Delta Chi Award for business and financial reporting given by the Society of Professional Journalists.
- The Public Affairs Reporting Award from the American Political Science Association
- The Sevellon Brown Memorial Award from the Associated Press.
- The Washingtonian of the Year award from Washingtonian magazine.
Controversies
Bush White House
The liberal Website Talking Points Memo has referred to Kessler's book A Matter of Character as a "lily-gilding portrait of the Bush White House."[1]
Torture
In response to Kessler's appearance on The Daily Show to promote his book The Terrorist Watch, a commentator at the liberal Website Daily Kos penned the article "Dear Ronald Kessler: Torture is ALWAYS Illegal".[2]
Barack Obama
Kessler in an item for the conservative Website and magazine Newsmax, published March 16, 2008[3], falsely reported that Barack Obama attended Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ on July 22, 2007 and agreed with Rev. Wright's sermon that of day. Disputing this, Marc Ambinder on The Atlantic Monthly Website on March 17, 2008,[4] provided detailed evidence that Barack Obama was not in attendance at church in Chicago, IL on July 22, 2008, but was in transit to Miami, FL.
Bibliography
- Kessler, Ronald. The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, 2002.
- Kessler, Ronald. The CIA at War, 2003. ISBN 0-312-31933-9.
- Kessler, Ronald. Escape from the CIA: How the CIA Won and Lost the Most Important Spy Ever to Defect to the U.S., 1991.
- Kessler, Ronald. The FBI, 1993.
- Kessler, Ronald. Inside Congress, 1997. ISBN 0-671-00386-0.
- Kessler, Ronald. Inside the CIA, 1992.
- Kessler, Ronald. Inside the White House, 1995.
- Kessler, Ronald. Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady, 2006. ISBN 0-385-51621-5.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Life Insurance Game, 1985.
- Kessler, Ronald. A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush, 2004.
- Kessler, Ronald. Moscow Station: How the KGB Penetrated the American Embassy, 1989.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Richest Man in the World, 1986.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Season: Inside Palm Beach and America's Richest Society, 1999.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded, 1996.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Spy in the Russian Club, 1990.
- Kessler, Ronald. Spy vs. Spy, 1988.
- Kessler, Ronald. The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack, 2007. ISBN 0-307-38213-3.
References
- ^ http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/002310.php "New Counsel's Daughter in Bush White House," Justin Rood, Talking Points Memo, January 9, 2007
- ^ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/14/131129/262/356/476619 "Dear Ronald Kessler: Torture is ALWAYS Illegal," Evolushawn, Daily Kos, March 14, 2008
- ^ http://newsmax.com/kessler/Obama_hat%20e_America_sermon/2008/03/16/80870.html "Obama Attended Hate America Sermon," Ronald Kessler, Newsmax, March 16, 2008
- ^ http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/kristol_bungles_key_fact_in_an.php "Kristol Fails To Check His Sources, And So Bungles Key Fact In Anti-Obama Column," Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, March 17, 2008
Links
- Kessler's personal website
- Appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Talk on C-SPAN's Book TV: "The Terrorist Watch."
- "Inside the War," The Washington Times
- Q and A on "Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady," The National Review
- "Wiretap Dance," an op-ed on the NSA intercepts, The Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2005
- "Bush Mythology," The National Review
- National Review interview *"Uncovering Deep Throat," The National Review