Robert Novak

Robert D. Novak began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Champaign-Urbana (Ill.) Courier following his graduation from the University of Illinois in 1952. After serving in the Korean war as a U.S. Army lieutenant, he joined the staff of the Associated Press in Omaha, Neb., later to be transferred to Lincoln and then Indianapolis to cover the statehouse and politics.

In 1957, the Associated Press transferred him to Washington, D.C., where he covered Capitol Hill. A year later, he joined the Washington bureau of the Wall Street Journal as a Senate correspondent and political reporter. He became its chief congressional correspondent in 1961.

In 1963, he teamed with Rowland Evans, then a congressional correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, to write “Inside Report,” a political column published five times a week. The column, today syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times and appearing in more than 200 newspapers, is known for its rapidly moving dateline and hard-hitting analysis of national and international developments.

Novak and Evans have criss-crossed the country and have made reporting tours of Europe, Asia, the Middle east, Latin America and Africa. Together, they produce the “Evans-Novak Political Report,” a bi-monthly newsletter, and can be seen on Cable News Network’s weekly “Evans and Novak” program and CNN commentaries.

Novak is the author of The Agony of the GOP, 1964 and the co-author with Evans of Lyndon B. Johnson: The Exercise of Power, Nixon in the White House: The Frustration of Power and The Reagan Revolution.

In addition to regular appearances on CNN, Novak is frequently a guest on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “Nightline” programs. He is also a regular member of the “McLaughlin Group,” a weekly talk show that deals with contemporary issues.