Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas E. Ricks
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Ricks at the 2022 Texas Book Festival.
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Thomas Edwin Ricks
September 25, 1955 Beverly, Massachusetts, United States
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| Education | BA |
| Alma mater | Yale University, 1977 |
| Occupation | Writer, journalist, editor, and educator |
| Employer | Center for a New American Security |
| Known for | critique of U.S. national security policy, especially Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Awards | 2000 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting (on Wall Street Journal team) 2002 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting (on Washington Post team) Society of Professional Journalists Award for best feature reporting 2007 Distinguished alumnus of Scarsdale High School |
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Ricks (born September 25, 1955) is an American journalist and author. He writes mostly about the military and national security. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting twice. He won with teams from the Wall Street Journal (in 2000) and the Washington Post (in 2002).
Ricks has reported on U.S. military actions in many places. These include Somalia, Haiti, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He used to write a blog for Foreign Policy magazine. He is also a member of the Center for a New American Security, which is a group that studies defense policy.
Tom Ricks often gives talks to military groups. He is also part of a special council at Harvard University. This council works on how the military and civilians in the U.S. interact. He has written several non-fiction books. Some of his well-known books include Making the Corps (1997) and Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006). He also wrote The Gamble (2009) and First Principles (2020). His most recent book is Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 (2022).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Tom Ricks was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. He grew up in New York and also spent time in Afghanistan. He is one of six children. His father, David Frank Ricks, was a professor of psychology.
Ricks went to the American International School in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 1968 to 1970. This included his first year of high school. He later graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1973.
College and Early Career
After high school, Ricks earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1977. He then worked as an instructor at Lingnan College in Hong Kong from 1977 to 1979. After that, he was an assistant editor at the Wilson Quarterly from 1979 to 1981.
Journalism Career
Tom Ricks began his career at the Wall Street Journal. He was a reporter there from 1982 to 1985. He then became the deputy bureau chief in Miami in 1986. Later, he moved to Washington, D.C. There, he continued as a reporter for the Journal from 1987 to 1989. He also worked as a feature editor from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1999, he was the Pentagon correspondent.
After leaving the Wall Street Journal, he became a military correspondent for The Washington Post. He worked there from 2000 to 2008.
Pulitzer Prize Wins
While at the Wall Street Journal, Tom Ricks was part of a team of reporters. They wrote a series called "Price of Power." This series looked at how the United States spent money on defense. It also discussed changes the U.S. military might face after the Cold War. This series helped the Journal win the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.
He won his second Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2002. This time, he was part of The Washington Post team. They won for their reporting on how the U.S. began to fight against terrorism.
Ricks was also a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. This was for his book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq.
Books by Tom Ricks
Tom Ricks has written many books, both non-fiction and fiction. His non-fiction books often focus on military history and national security.
Nonfiction Books
- Making the Corps. Scribner, 1997.
- Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Penguin Group, 2006.
- The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008. The Penguin Press, 2009.
- The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today. Penguin Press, 2012.
- Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom. Penguin Press, 2017.
- First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country. Harper, 2020.
- Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
Fiction Books
- A Soldier's Duty. Random House, 2001.
- Everyone Knows But You. Pegasus Crime, 2024.
- We Can't Save You. Pegasus Crime, forthcoming 2025.
See also
In Spanish: Thomas E. Ricks (periodista) para niños
