Chris Matthews

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This article is about the MSNBC talk show host. For the musician, see Christopher Matthews (musician). For the Australian cricketer, see Chris Matthews (cricketer).
Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews, 2007-10-09
Born December 17, 1945 (1945-12-17) (age 62)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Notable credit(s)
Official website

Christopher Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is a television talk show host and pundit, known for a nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC. On weekends he hosts the syndicated NBC News-produced panel discussion program, The Chris Matthews Show. Matthews makes frequent appearances as a political commentator on many NBC and MSNBC programs.

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[edit] Early life, education and family

Matthews, a Philadelphia native, is a Roman Catholic of Irish descent who attended La Salle College High School. He is a 1967 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, and did graduate work in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Matthews served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970 as a trade development advisor. In 2005 he was hospitalized with malaria, which he evidently contracted on one of his visits that year to Africa or the Middle East.

Matthews is married to Kathleen Matthews, who anchored News 7 on WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C, before accepting a position as an Executive Vice President with J.W. Marriott. The couple has three children: Michael, Thomas and Caroline. His brother Jim Matthews is a County Commissioner in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

[edit] Political career and views

As a young man Matthews supported Barry Goldwater, but was inspired to become a Democrat by Eugene McCarthy's anti-Vietnam war platforms. When Matthews first arrived in Washington he was given a patronage job as an armed officer with the United States Capitol Police.[1] In Washington Matthews worked for four Democratic politicians. He worked in the U.S. Senate for five years on the staffs of Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie before himself campaigning for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing his party's nomination to Pennsylvania Congressman Joshua Eilberg in the Democratic primary in 1974. Matthews received about 23% of the vote.[2] He was a presidential speechwriter for four years during the Carter administration, where he drafted much of Carter's so-called "Malaise" speech. Matthews later worked six years as a top aide to long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill, playing a direct role in many key political battles with the Reagan administration[3]. Despite having worked for Democrats, Matthews said, "I'm more conservative than people think I am. ... I voted for George W. Bush in 2000."[4] Matthews has been accused of having panels of guests that skew to the right by liberal media watchdogs[5] and of supporting Republicans in his own questions and comments.[6][7] Conversely, he is also often criticized by conservatives for his opposition to the Iraq war among other stances he takes against the Bush administration. Initially a supporter of the war (including asserting early on that "Chicks dig this war!"), he rapidly altered his opinion as the insurgency grew and American casualties mounted. Conservative watchdog groups also accuse Matthews of constantly taking Democratic Party positions.[8] Matthews made repeated statements against the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq[9] (examples include "George W. Bush disappointed a lot of us when he went to war...I voted for the guy in 2000." and "When are we going to get to vote against this damn war?").

[edit] Author, journalist, and talk show host

Matthews during a special edition of Hardball
Matthews during a special edition of Hardball

Matthews worked as a print journalist for 15 years, spending 13 years as Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for The San Francisco Examiner (1987 – 2000), and two years as a nationally syndicated columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.

In 1997, Matthews was given his own talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which originally aired on CNBC but is currently on MSNBC. Hardball features pundits and elected officials as guests whom Matthews will not hesitate to interrupt, often to disagree (i.e., playing "hardball" and forcing them to answer his questions). Matthews has been singled out for negative commentary on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign.[10] In contrast, conservative watchdog groups accuse Matthews of taking Democratic Party positions,[8] pointing, for example, to his offering high praise for Bill Clinton.[11] Discussing the media's coverage of the Iraq war, Matthews said, "During [the] course of the war, there was a lot of snap-to-it coverage. We're at war. We have to root for the country to some extent. You're not supposed to be too aggressively critical of a country at combat, especially when it's your own."[12]

In 2002, The Chris Matthews Show began airing in syndication. The show is formatted as a political roundtable consisting of four journalists and Matthews, who serves as the moderator. He is estimated to earn more than $5 million a year.[13]

Matthews is the author of five books on politics and history. The first, Hardball: How Politics is Played, led to the creation of his signature TV show. The second, Kennedy and Nixon, detailed the friendship of the two future political adversaries from the 1940s through the 1960 election.

The third, Now Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, is the first where he discusses his real political views on various issues. His fourth book, American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions, is a history of famous and/or influential Americans and how they rose from humble and/or immigrant origins. His fifth and most recent book, Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success was published in October, 2007 and met with general critical acclaim. He was, however, skewered quite intensely on the book by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on October 2, 2007.[14]

Speaking at the tenth anniversary party of his show, "Hardball", Matthews was critical of the Bush Administration, claiming that the Administration had been "caught in criminality." He did not specify what such "criminality" consisted of. During the same speech, he stated that the Administration had "pressured" his "bosses" in an attempt to silence him.[15]

[edit] Hillary Clinton controversy

Matthews has been accused of being highly critical of Hillary Clinton, especially during her 2008 candidacy for President. The liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America has chronicled his allegedly negative comments on Clinton from September through November 2007.[16] During the primaries, Matthews was openly enthusiastic about Barack Obama's candidacy. On January 8, 2008 Clinton won the New Hampshire primary by 3 points, confounding the predictions of polls which showed her to be trailing Obama by 5 to 13 points. Afterwards, political analyst and Air America Radio host Rachel Maddow told Matthews that several blogs were citing him as "a symbol of what the mainstream media has done to Hillary Clinton." She added that sites such as TalkingPointsMemo.com indicated that some voters felt that the media were "piling on" Clinton, and were "coming to her defense with their votes". Matthews replied sarcastically, "My influence in American politics looms over the people. I'm overwhelmed myself." He added, "I will never underestimate Hillary Clinton again."[17].

The next day, Matthews appeared on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC morning show and said, "Let's not forget...the reason she's a U.S. Senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a frontrunner, is that her husband messed around". While this incited more controversy, Matthews noted that Clinton's political career started after she appeared with Senator Chuck Schumer and impressed Democratic leaders with her graceful handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "I thought it was an unexceptional statement," he said.[18] This comment led Media Matters to focus on Matthews' history, citing many other instances over several years in which Matthews made remarks they considered sexist. Their research website Matthews Monitor, has an extensive analysis of his comments about Clinton. On January 17, 2008, Matthews responded to the criticism, acknowledging that the comment came across as "nasty". He pledged to be "clearer", "smarter" and more respectful when discussing women in the future.[19]

[edit] 2010 Senate run

On the April 14, 2008, edition of The Colbert Report, Matthews alluded to a possible run for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania. When directly questioned by Stephen Colbert about his intentions, he stated that there is a difference between celebrities and those who work for the people, and it's a greater thing to work for the people. He also said that his boyhood dream was to be a Senator. Four days later, on April 18, 2008, Matthews told Bill Maher that he has "made a commitment to covering politics, starting in 1987, and [he is] honoring that commitment, not getting involved in it."[20] The seat in question would be the one held by Arlen Specter, whose term in the Senate ends in 2010.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Matthews, Chris. "American attitude - Hardball with Chris Matthews", MSNBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  2. ^ "PA District 04 - D Primary", OurCampaigns.com, 1974-03-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  3. ^ Hardball Politics: Senator Chris Matthews? It's Not as Crazy as it Sounds, The Emory Wheel, 4.17.08
  4. ^ October 3, 2003, and February 23, 2004, editions of Hardball
  5. ^ S, A. "Matthews's statements defy conservatives' claims that he is a "liberal Democrat"", Media Matters for America, 2005-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  6. ^ Gitlen, Todd. "The Harder He Blows", The American Prospect, 2006-03-23. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  7. ^ B, J. "Matthews trumpeted comparatively small Abramoff client donations to Sen. Clinton, virtually ignoring larger donations given to Bush, Hastert", Media Matters for America, 2006-01-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  8. ^ a b Finkelstein, Mark. "Matthews Lambastes Lieberman: 'Terrible, Terrible' VP Candidate", NewsBusters, 2008-04-22. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  9. ^ "Matthews: ‘I Have Been…Against This Bullshit War From The Beginning’", Center for American Progress, 2006-09-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  10. ^ "MSNBC's Steve Adubato showed us the soul of the corps", The Daily Howler, 2007-12-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  11. ^ Sheppard, Noel. "Chris Matthews Praises Bill Clinton’s Rant on ‘Fox News Sunday’", NewsBusters, 2006-10-01. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  12. ^ Boehlert, Eric. "Lapdogs: Cowardly and clueless, the U.S. media abandoned its post as Bush led the country into a disastrous war", Salon.com, 2006-05-04. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  13. ^ Kurtz, Howard. "HardBrawl", The Washington Post, 2008-02-14. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  14. ^ Stewart, Jon. "Jon Stewart gives Chris Matthews the worst interview of his life.", The Daily Show, Comedy Central, 2007-10-02. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  15. ^ "Matthews says Bush administration has "finally been caught in their criminality"", Examiner.com, 2007-10-04. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  16. ^ "Chris Matthews on Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani", Media Matters for America, 2008-04-23. 
  17. ^ H, J. "Matthews on Clinton's performance: "good enough here for women who wanted to root for her anyway"", Media Matters for America, 2008-01-09. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  18. ^ Bauder, David. "Chris Matthews a Target for Clinton Fans", Associated Press, ABC News, 2008-01-12. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  19. ^ Koppelman, Alex. "Matthews rails against "Clinton-centric world"", Salon.com, 2008-03-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  20. ^ http://www.billmaher.com/?page_id=233

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