Cokie Roberts facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cokie Roberts
Roberts in 1998
Born	Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs (1943-12-27)December 27, 1943 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	September 17, 2019(2019-09-17) (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma mater	Wellesley College
Occupation	Journalist, author
Employer	NPR, ABC, PBS
Known for	Journalist, author, pundit, television
Title	Contributing Senior News Analyst
Spouse(s)	Steven V. Roberts ​ (m. 1966)​
Children	Lee Roberts Rebecca Roberts
Parent(s)	Hale Boggs Lindy Boggs
Relatives	Barbara Boggs Sigmund (sister) Tommy Boggs (brother)

Cokie Roberts (born Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was a famous American journalist and author. She spent many years as a political reporter and analyst. She worked for major news organizations like NPR, PBS, and ABC News.

Cokie Roberts was a key part of shows like Morning Edition, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, World News Tonight, and This Week. She was known as one of NPR's "Founding Mothers." This group included other important female journalists like Susan Stamberg, Linda Wertheimer, and Nina Totenberg. Cokie Roberts also wrote a weekly newspaper column with her husband, Steve. She helped many non-profit groups and was even appointed by President George W. Bush to a special council.

Early Life and Education

Cokie Roberts was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her brother, Tommy, gave her the nickname "Cokie." He couldn't say her real name, Corinne, when he was a child.

Her parents were Lindy Boggs and Hale Boggs. Both of them served for many years in the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana. Her mother, Lindy, took over her father's seat after his plane disappeared in 1972. Cokie was their third child. Her sister, Barbara, became the mayor of Princeton, New Jersey. Her brother, Tommy, became a well-known lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, D.C.

Cokie Roberts went to an all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. She later graduated from the Stone Ridge School near Washington, D.C., in 1960. In 1964, she earned a degree in political science from Wellesley College.

Journalism Career

Cokie Roberts started her journalism career at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. There, she hosted a weekly public affairs show called Meeting of the Minds. She then moved to New York City with her husband, Steve, who was also a journalist. In 1967, she worked as a reporter for Cowles Communications. She also worked as a producer for WNEW-TV.

Later, she moved to Los Angeles and worked for Altman Productions. She then became a producer for Serendipity, a children's program at KNBC-TV. This show won an Emmy Award in 1971. She also lived in Greece with her husband. While there, she worked as a stringer (a freelance reporter) for CBS News in Athens.

Working at NPR and PBS

Cokie Roberts joined NPR in 1978. For over 10 years, she worked as their congressional correspondent. She was one of the first female journalists to hold such a high position at NPR. This is why she is called one of the "founding mothers of NPR."

She also contributed to the PBS evening news show, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Her reporting on the Iran-Contra Affair earned her an award in 1988. From 1981 to 1984, she co-hosted The Lawmakers, a weekly TV show about Congress. Starting in 1992, Roberts became a senior news analyst for NPR. She mainly appeared on the daily news program Morning Edition. In 1994, The New York Times said she helped change political journalism in Washington, D.C. This field used to be mostly male-dominated.

Joining ABC News

In 1988, Cokie Roberts began working for ABC News. She was a political correspondent for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. She also continued to work part-time as a political commentator for NPR.

For many years, she was a panelist on ABC News' Sunday morning show, This Week with David Brinkley. After David Brinkley retired, she co-anchored the show with Sam Donaldson from 1996 to 2002. During this time, she was also the chief congressional analyst for ABC News. Later, George Stephanopoulos took over as anchor. Cokie Roberts also covered politics and public policy for World News Tonight and other ABC News shows. She continued to appear on This Week and work for NPR. Her last work for NPR was a series called "Ask Cokie." In this series, she answered listeners' questions about U.S. politics.

Awards and Honors

Cokie Roberts received many important awards for her journalism. She won the Edward R. Murrow Award. She also won the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for her coverage of Congress. In 1991, she won an Emmy Award for her work on "Who Is Ross Perot?"

In 1997, she received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. In 2000, she won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Cokie Roberts and her mother, Lindy Boggs, won the Foremother Award in 2013. This award is from the National Center for Health Research.

She was honored by Omicron Delta Kappa in 1995. She later received their highest honor, the Laurel Crowned Circle. In 2000, she was also added to the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. The American Women in Radio and Television named her one of the 50 greatest women in broadcasting history. Cokie Roberts also served as president of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association.

Personal Life and Death

Cokie Roberts was married to Steven V. Roberts, a professor and journalist, from 1966 until her death. They met in 1962 when she was 18 and he was 19. They lived in Bethesda, Maryland. They had two children, a son named Lee and a daughter named Rebecca. Cokie Roberts was a Roman Catholic.

In 2002, Cokie Roberts was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She received successful treatment at that time. However, she passed away from complications of the disease in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 2019.

Works

Cokie Roberts was also a successful author. She wrote several books, often focusing on the roles of women in American history.

• Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (2004)
• Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation (2008)
• Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848–1868 (2015)

External sources

• Official biography: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101090 – NPR
• Recent NPR stories by Cokie Roberts – NPR
• Video Interviews with Cokie Roberts – Charlie Rose
• Women of Influence – National Endowment for the Humanities
• 1994 Commencement Speech – Wellesley College
• Oral History of the U.S. House of Representatives – Cokie Roberts gives a first-hand account of growing up in the capital.
• Cokie Roberts at The Interviews: An Oral History of TelevisionLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 22: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
• Remembering Cokie Roberts, 1943–2019—NPR memorial page, including the NPR special