Matthews, Chris

Chris Matthews is the author of New York Times bestsellers Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked, Kennedy & Nixon, and Hardball. As he charts his political odyssey in This Country: My Life in Politics and History (Simon & Schuster), Matthews offers a panoramic portrait of post-World War II America. His remarkable story includes moving to Washington, D.C., as a Peace Corps graduate, becoming a senator’s staffer; running for office himself and losing; and becoming a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and chief of staff to Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. Matthews then became a columnist and reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa, and every American presidency from Reagan to George W. Bush, before becoming the host of the long-running cable news show Hardball with Chris Matthews. As he charts his political odyssey as both insider and observer, he paints a picture of a nation searching for its soul. Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut and author of The Man Who Sold America, said “Chris Matthews has written a love letter to this country through the lens of his own extraordinary life.”