George Will facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
George Will
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Will in 2022
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| Born |
George Frederick Will
May 4, 1941 Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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| Education | Trinity College (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (MA) Princeton University (MA, PhD) |
| Occupation |
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| Employer | Newsweek The Washington Post |
| Political party | Republican (before 2016) Independent (after 2016) |
| Spouse(s) |
Madeleine Will
(m. 1967; div. 1989)Mari Maseng
(m. 1991) |
| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1977) |
George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is a well-known American writer and political expert. He writes regular articles, called columns, for The Washington Post. He also shares his opinions on TV for NewsNation. In 1986, a major newspaper called him "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America." He won a special award, the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, in 1977 for his writing.
George Will used to be a member of the Republican Party. He was a close helper for Ronald Reagan when Reagan ran for president in 1980. Will helped Reagan get ready for important debates. Later, he was wrongly accused of something called "Debategate," but the person who accused him, former President Jimmy Carter, later said it wasn't true.
Over time, he started to disagree with some Republican politicians. These included Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Donald Trump. Because he didn't approve of Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Will became an independent. This means he doesn't belong to a specific political party anymore. He voted for Joe Biden in 2020. In September 2024, he said he would vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Contents
Early Life & Education
George Will was born on May 4, 1941, in Champaign, Illinois. His parents were Louise and Frederick L. Will. His father was a philosophy professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. George went to University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois. He graduated from there in 1959.
After high school, Will attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion in 1962. Then, he traveled to England and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. There, he focused on philosophy, politics, and economics. He received a bachelor's degree, which later became a master's degree. Will then went to Princeton University for his doctoral studies. He earned a PhD in political science in 1968.
From 1970 to 1972, he worked for Republican Senator Gordon Allott from Colorado. After that, Will taught political philosophy. He taught at the James Madison College of Michigan State University. He also taught at the University of Toronto. In 1995 and 1998, he taught at Harvard University.
Journalism Career
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George Will's political views changed over time. He started with left-wing views. But during his studies at Oxford, he became more conservative. This shift happened especially after he visited Communist-controlled East Berlin in the mid-1960s.
Will worked as an editor for National Review from 1972 to 1978. In 1974, he joined The Washington Post Writers Group. He began writing a biweekly column that was shared with many newspapers. This column became very popular and is still published today. By 2014, his column was sent to about 450 newspapers. In 1976, he also started writing a biweekly column for Newsweek until 2011.
In 1977, Will won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. This award was for his "distinguished commentary on a variety of topics." His columns often mix facts with conservative opinions. They are known for using advanced words and referring to famous thinkers. He also often mentions baseball in his writing. Will has written two popular books about baseball. He has also written three books on political ideas. Plus, he has published eleven collections of his columns and other writings.
From 2013 to 2017, Will was a contributor for Fox News. Before that, starting in the early 1980s, he was a news analyst for ABC News. He was a founding member of the panel for ABC's This Week with David Brinkley in 1981. This show is now called This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Will was a panelist on This Week until he left ABC News. He was also a regular panelist on Agronsky & Company from 1977 to 1984. On March 19, 2017, he returned as a panelist on Meet the Press.
On May 8, 2017, Will became a political contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. He shared his political insights on shows like Today, Morning Joe, and The 11th Hour. In December 2020, he received the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. Since January 2022, Will has been a senior political contributor at NewsNation.
1980 Ronald Reagan Presidential Campaign
George Will helped Ronald Reagan get ready for his 1980 debate against Jimmy Carter. Right after the debate, Will appeared on ABC's Nightline. The host, Ted Koppel, mentioned that Will had met with Governor Reagan. Will did not say that he had helped Reagan prepare for the debate. He then praised Reagan's performance, saying his "game plan worked well."
In 2004 and 2005, Carter accused Will of giving Reagan's campaign a secret briefing book. This book was supposedly stolen from Carter's office before the 1980 debate. In a 2005 column, Will called his role in Reagan's debate preparation "inappropriate." However, he denied any part in stealing the briefing book. Carter later wrote a letter to The Washington Post taking back his accusations. Carter apologized to Will for any incorrect statements. He said he never thought Will took his book.
Global Sea Ice Levels Discussion
In a Washington Post column, George Will questioned the effects of global warming. He wrote that "global sea ice levels now equal those of 1979." This claim, and others, caught the attention of environmentalists. The Arctic Climate Research Center at the University of Illinois responded. They stated their data showed global sea ice was much less in February 2009 than in February 1979.
Will wrote another column saying he had reported the Center's information correctly. The debate continued in various places. Another journalist, Chris Mooney, also challenged Will's statements in The Washington Post.
Column on Campus Issues
George Will wrote a column about issues on college campuses. In it, he stated that "when [colleges and universities] make victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges, victims proliferate." This comment caused controversy.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided to stop publishing Will's column. The editor, Tony Messenger, wrote: "The column was offensive and inaccurate; we apologize for publishing it."
Political Views
Foreign Policy & National Security
George Will once suggested that the United States should remove all its troops from Afghanistan. He also supported Barack Obama's actions during protests in Iran in 2009. He criticized the Bush administration for watching people without permission. Will also believed that people held at Guantanamo Bay prison camp should have trials. On immigration, Will supports stronger border security. He also believes in a "path to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants.
Social Issues
Regarding crime, Will is against the death penalty. He believes that having more people in prison makes communities safer. Additionally, Will is generally doubtful about affirmative action programs. These programs aim to help groups that have faced discrimination.
Economic Issues
Will is a libertarian-style conservative. This means he supports less government control over businesses. He also favors low taxes. He thinks these ideas help the economy grow and are fairer. He was against the plans by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama to boost the economy. Will supports getting rid of the minimum wage. He also wants to create voluntary personal retirement accounts. This would help reduce the government's cost for Social Security. In 2013, Will supported a plan to break up large banks. This would prevent them from being "too big to fail" and restore the Glass-Steagall Act.
Campaign Finance Reform
Will is against efforts to control how political campaigns are funded. He argues that such laws are against the constitution. He believes they would unfairly help politicians who are already in office. Also, he thinks that spending money on campaigns is a form of free speech. He sees it as a way people participate in politics. Will believes that giving the government power to control speech would make the government "even bigger." Instead, he thinks we need "more speech, advocating less government." This would make politics less important in our lives.
Personal Life
Family
George Will has three children with his first wife, Madeleine. Their names are Victoria, Geoffrey, and Jonathan. Their oldest child, Jonathan, was born in 1972 with Down syndrome. Will has written about Jonathan in his column sometimes. In 1989, he and Madeleine divorced after 22 years of marriage.
In 1991, Will married Mari Maseng. They have one son named David, born in 1992. They live in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a town near Washington, D.C. Mari Maseng is a political advisor and speechwriter. She worked on the presidential campaigns for Rick Perry in 2012 and Scott Walker in 2016. She also worked for Ronald Reagan as a speechwriter. She was also a communications director for Senator Bob Dole.
Religious Beliefs
George Will describes himself as an "amiable, low-voltage atheist." This means he doesn't believe in God. For many years, he was an active member of the Episcopal Church.
Interests
Will is a big fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He has written a lot about baseball. His best-selling book, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, is about the sport. He was also interviewed for Ken Burns's PBS documentary series Baseball.
Awards & Recognition
George Will has received many awards and honorary degrees. Here are some of them:
- 1977: Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
- 1978: Headliner Award for outstanding feature columns
- 1979: Finalist for National Magazine Award
- 1980: Silurian Award for editorial writing
- 1991: Silurian Award for editorial writing
- 1991: First Place in Interpretive Columns: Clarion Awards
- 1991: Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism
- 1992: Madison Medal Award, Princeton University
- 1993: William Allen White Award
- 2003: Walter B. Wriston Lecture Award
- 2005: Bradley Prize
- 2006: Champion of Liberty Award
- 2019: Order of Lincoln award, the highest honor from the State of Illinois.
Works
George Will has written many books and collections of his columns. Here are some of his notable works:
- The Pursuit of Happiness and Other Sobering Thoughts (1978)
- The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory Notions (1982)
- Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does (1983)
- The Morning After: American Success and Excesses, 1981–1986 (1986)
- The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election (1987)
- Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball (1990)
- Suddenly: The American Idea Abroad and at Home (1990)
- Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy (1992)
- The Leveling Wind: Politics, the Culture and Other News, 1990–1994 (1994)
- The Woven Figure: Conservatism and America's Fabric: 1994–1997 (1997)
- Bunts: Pete Rose, Curt Flood, Camden Yards and Other Reflections on Baseball (1997)
- With a Happy Eye But...: America and the World, 1997–2002 (2002)
- One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation (2008)
- A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred (2014)
- The Conservative Sensibility (2019)
- American Happiness and Discontents (2021)
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