David Maraniss

Washington, D.C.

Associate editor

Education: University of Wisconsin, honorary doctor of letters

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author David Maraniss has been part of The Washington Post family since 1977. During his career he has served as Maryland reporter, Maryland editor, deputy Metro editor, Metro editor, project editor, congressional reporter and presidential campaign biographer. He has won nearly every major prize in journalism and nonfiction writing and is the author of 12 books, including "First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton" and "Barack Obama: The Story." He is a fellow in the Society of American Historians and a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt Un
Latest from David Maraniss

Jesse Jackson, slowed at 82, is still showing up and keeping hope alive

The civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate did not speak at this week’s Democratic convention, but he was there, and his legacy was everywhere.

August 24, 2024
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, sits with philosopher Cornel West, kneeling, and Jesse Jackson Jr., center, during a celebration to honor Jackson's legacy at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition on Aug. 18 in Chicago.

The making of Kamala Harris, as told by her kindergarten best friend

Stacey Johnson-Batiste and her mother, Doris Johnson, reminisced about important moments in Harris’s childhood in Berkeley, Calif.

August 22, 2024
Doris Johnson and her daughter, Stacey Johnson-Batiste, a childhood friend of Kamala Harris, speak Monday during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago.

Bill Clinton was a lion in winter addressing his 12th Democratic convention

Clinton’s political life can be measured by political conventions, like measuring a tree’s age from rings on the trunk, from his first in 1980 at age 33 to this week’s at age 78.

August 21, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton faces a cheering audience after taking the podium to deliver his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in New York on July 16, 1992.

War shifts political views in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village, once reliably GOP

Many in the neighborhood remain conservative on issues such as abortion, but Russia’s war in Ukraine and Trump’s isolationism has them rethinking their votes.

August 19, 2024
From left, Okasana Olexyn, Nataliya Taylor and Olena Balaban rehearse choir songs at the Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago on Sunday.

In a Milwaukee barbershop, Black men weigh the Republicans up the road

Republican National Convention speakers have been appealing to Black voters to back Trump. But men at Gee’s Clippers said they aren’t interested in Trump — or Biden, either.

July 18, 2024

A Republican odyssey, from Goldwater in the Cow Palace to Trump in Milwaukee

Shawn Steel, 77, a sergeant-at-arms at the Republican National Convention, reflects on his 60 years of attending GOP conventions, from Goldwater to Trump.

July 16, 2024
Shawn Steel, 77, a California delegate and a sergeant-at-arms for the Republican National Convention, on the convention floor in Milwaukee on Monday.

Trump picks Pence and then Vance: An ode to short, strong words

Trump has said he likes short names like his own, words just one part at a time

July 15, 2024
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) works the floor on the first day of the Republican National Convention on Monday in Milwaukee.

The road from the GOP’s antislavery founding to Trump’s MAGA convention

The delegates gathering in Milwaukee this week are awfully different than the band of abolitionists who founded the Republican Party in this Wisconsin town 170 years ago.

July 15, 2024

Relentless Wrestler

Jim Jordan is an unyielding combatant, whether grappling on the mat or in the halls of Congress. A wrestling champion, he coached wrestling at Ohio State during the sex abuse scandal before entering politics.

October 21, 2023
Mike Schyck, in headgear, with assistant coach Jim Jordan, in red shirt, and head coach Russ Hellickson, in tie. (Courtesy of Mike Schyck)

Jerry Jones helped transform the NFL, except when it comes to race

Decades after the segregation battles of his youth, Jerry Jones has modernized the NFL’s revenue model but hasn’t hired a Black head coach.

November 23, 2022