Thomas B. Edsall Explained

Birth Name:	Thomas Byrne Edsall
Birth Date:	22 August 1941
Birth Place:	Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality:	American
Known For:	Weekly column in The New York Times (2011 to present)
Spouse:	Mary D. Edsall (m. 1965)
Children:	1
Awards:	Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (1992)
Education:	Brown University Boston University (BA)
Occupation:	Journalist, author, professor

Thomas Byrne Edsall (born August 22, 1941) is an American journalist and academic. He is best known for his weekly opinion column for The New York Times, Previously, he worked as a reporter for The Providence Journal and for The Baltimore Sun, and as a correspondent for The New Republic. In addition, he spent 25 years covering national politics for the Washington Post. He held the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Chair at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism until 2014.^{[1] [2]}

Early life and family

Edsall was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Linn Edsall, a market research executive, and Katherine Byrne, a museum executive.^[3] Edsall is the grandson of David Linn Edsall, who served as Dean of the Harvard Medical School from 1918 to 1935.^{[4] [5]} He is the nephew of John Tileston Edsall, a noted protein scientist and professor at Harvard University and Geoffrey Edsall, the former president of the American Association of Immunologists.^{[6] [7]}

He attended Brown University before receiving his B.A. from Boston University in 1966.

Career

Edsall served as a VISTA volunteer from 1966 to 1967 and he wrote for The Providence Journal in 1965. Edsall covered politics for The Baltimore Sun from 1967 to 1981; and he covered national politics for the Washington Post from 1981 to 2006. He was the political editor of the Huffington Post from 2007 to 2009,^[8] a correspondent for The New Republic from 2006 to 2013 and for the National Journal from 2006 to 2007.

In November and December 2006, Edsall was a guest columnist for the print edition of the New York Times Op-Ed page.^{[9] [10]}

From 2006 to 2014, Edsall served as the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Public Affairs Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he continues to teach in an adjunct capacity.^[11]

From 2011 to the present he has been a weekly opinion columnist for the New York Times.^{[12] [13]}

He makes occasional TV and radio appearances on CNN, CSPAN, MSNBC, PBS, FOX, and NPR.^[14]

Personal life

Edsall is married and lives in New York and Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary (daughter of Karl Deutsch), with whom he co-authored the book Chain Reaction,^[15] a 1992 Pulitzer Prize finalist in general nonfiction.^[16]

The couple has one daughter, Alexandra, a graduate of Harvard Law School and former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.^[17]

Awards and fellowships

• Shapiro Fellowship, School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University (2015)^[18]
• Markwell Award of the International Society of Political Psychology (2014)^[19]
• Finalist, General Non-Fiction, Pulitzer Prize, 1992, for Chain Reaction: The Impact on American Politics of Race, Rights and Taxes (W.W. Norton)^[20]
• Bill Pryor Memorial Award, Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, 1981^[21]
• Carey McWilliams Award, American Political Science Association, 1994^[22]
• Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 1996–1997
• Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 1997, 2000, 2003–2006, 2010–2012

Works

• Book: Edsall, Thomas B. . The New Politics of Inequality . W. W. Norton . 1984 . 0-393-30250-4.
• Book: Edsall, Thomas B. . 2 . Power and Money: Writing About Politics . W. W. Norton . 1988 .
• Book: Edsall, Thomas B. . 2 . Edsall, Mary D. . Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics . W. W. Norton . August 1992 . 0-393-30903-7 .
• Book: Edsall, Thomas B. . 2 . Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive For Permanent Power . Basic Books . August 28, 2006 . 0-465-01815-7 .
• Book: Edsall, Thomas B. . 2 . The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics . . January 10, 2012 . 978-0-385-53519-9.
• —— (April 11, 2023). The Point of No Return: American Democracy at the Crossroads. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-16489-2.

External links

• New York Times columns
  • A War of All Against All; Are Democrats and Republicans now engaged in a 'death struggle' over dwindling resources, making gridlock and dysfunction more likely? by W. James Antle III January 10, 2012, a The Age of Austerity WSJ book review
• "What Became of the Democrats" by David Oshinsky
• "Race" by Thomas Byrne Edsall
• "The Wind that Blew in Reagan" by Murray Kempton
• The Political Price of Austerity by Mark Schmitt January 20, 2012 NYT book review
• Collected columns from The New Republic

Notes and References

1. Web site: Thomas B. Edsall . https://web.archive.org/web/20160103194705/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/profile/35-thomas-b-edsall/10 . January 3, 2016 . Faculty . Columbia Journalism School.
2. Web site: October 22, 2014 . Thomas Byrne Edsall Curriculum Vitae . https://web.archive.org/web/20151224112142/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/system/documents/418/original/edsall_2014.pdf . December 24, 2015 . April 1, 2021 . Columbia University Journalism School.
3. News: Mary Deutsch Wed To Thomas Edsall . . August 23, 1965 . 34.
4. Web site: Edsall, David Linn (1869-1945) · Jane Addams Digital Edition . 2023-10-19 . digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu.
5. Leff. Laurel. Schoen. Robert E.. May 2021. Fighting Prejudice and Absorbing Refugees From Nazism: The National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians, 1939-1945. Annals of Internal Medicine. 174. 5. 680–686. 10.7326/M20-6002. 1539-3704. 33999678. 234768033 .
6. Web site: Geoffrey Edsall, M.D.. August 21, 2024. American Association of Immunologists.
7. Web site: John T. Edsall . 2023-10-23 . nasonline.org.
8. Charlip . Lauren . Movers . May 7, 2007 . . 17 . 19 . 27.
9. Web site: Mitchell . Greg . November 25, 2006 . Despite Election Results, Edsall Still Sees 'Red' . . January 3, 2011 . June 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120609134209/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Article/Despite-Election-Results-Edsall-Still-Sees-Red- . dead .
10. Web site: Edsall . Thomas . November 26, 2006 . Edsall Responds to 'E&P' Editor's Critique . Editor & Publisher . January 3, 2011 . June 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120609134216/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Article/Edsall-Responds-to-E-amp-P-Editor-s-Critique . dead .
11. Web site: Tom Edsall, adjunct faculty . Columbia University Journalism School . 2021 . March 31, 2021.
12. News: Opinionator: Thomas B. Edsall . https://web.archive.org/web/20131204000512/http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/thomas-b-edsall/ . December 4, 2013 . New York Times . 9 October 2013 .
13. News: Thomas B. Edsall, opinion columnist . . March 31, 2021.
14. Web site: Tom Edsall Columbia Journalism School . 2023-10-23 . journalism.columbia.edu.
15. Web site: November 2, 1992 . Thomas, Mary Edsall to deliver Yablonky Lecture . January 4, 2012 . The University Record (University of Michigan).
16. Web site: The Pulitzer Prizes . Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall and Mary D. Edsall (W.W. Norton & Company) . 2023-10-18 . www.pulitzer.org . en.
17. Web site: Alexandra Edsall C-SPAN.org . 2023-10-18 . www.c-span.org.
18. "Shapiro Fellow – Thomas B. Edsall". School of Media & Public Affairs, The George Washington University. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
19. "Markwell Media Award". Section: Past Winners. ISPP: International Society of Political Psychology. ispp.org. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
20. "The 1992 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction". The Pulitzer Prizes. pulitzer.org. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
21. Web site: Edsall, Thomas Byrne . Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) . . June 29, 2017 .
22. News: Post Reporter Wins Carey McWilliams Award . June 4, 1994 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160315153754/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-894022.html . dead . March 15, 2016 . January 6, 2012.