Eleanor Clift

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Respected political reporter, author and analyst, Eleanor Clift writes about the Washington power structure, the influence of women in politics and other complex, contemporary issues; she is currently assigned to follow the jockeying over policy and politics in the new age of Obama. 

Clift brings her unique perspective and exceptional insight to analyze whether our political leaders are capable of seizing the moment, and what the impact will be of a new politically engaged population. Her column, "Capitol Letter," is posted each Friday on Newsweek.com and she is a regular panelist on the sometimes combative, always entertaining syndicated talk show The McLaughlin Group.

SPEAKER TOPICS
ABOUT Eleanor Clift   (+/-)

Reporting the News While Making It

Before serving in her current capacity as Contributing Editor, Eleanor Clift was Newsweek's White House Correspondent, where she was a key member of the magazine's 1992 election team, following the campaign of Bill Clinton from its start to inauguration day. In June 1992, she was named Deputy Washington Bureau Chief.  Clift came to Washington via Newsweek's Atlanta bureau where she covered Jimmy Carter's bid for the presidency and then followed him to Washington upon his election to the White House.  Clift began her career as a secretary to Newsweek's National Affairs editor in New York; she was one of the first women ever at the magazine to move from secretary to reporter.

Acclaimed Author Examining Today's Most Important Issues

Clift and her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, who was a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote two books together, War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics and Madam President:  Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling.  Clift's book, Founding Sisters, is about the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the vote.  Her most recent book, Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics is about the loss of her husband together with an examination of how we deal with death in America.

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SPEAKER TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS    (+/-)

Grading President Obama

From style to substance, is he keeping his promise of change? A Washington insider's view of Obama's outsider presidency.

Women and Politics

Hillary Clinton didn't win the presidency, dashing the hopes of a generation of women. From suffrage to sexism, Clift looks at the obstacles that remain and how to shatter the last glass ceiling.

The Healthcare Conundrum

With reform on the horizon, Clift talks about the politics as well as offers a personal perspective on end- of-life care and the choices before us individually and as a society. Doctors can tell us what we can do; they can't tell us what we should do.

First Ladies and Their Political Pulpit

Michelle Obama fully understands the power of her platform, and she is using it to convey the priorities and values she shares with her husband. An examination of the role and how Obama, a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer, is navigating the line between style and substance.  

Media and Politics

Clift examines the shrinking role of the mainstream media and its impact on politics. Can newspapers survive? Does anybody under age 30 care if they don't?  Barack Obama won the presidency in part because he understood the new tools of communication and mobilized them to his advantage.

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