Thomas B. Edsall

Thomas Byrne Edsall (born August 22, 1941) is an American journalist and academic, best known for his weekly opinion column for The New York Times online and for his 25 years covering national politics for the Washington Post. The Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994 states that Edsall:

astutely analyzes the shifting political fortunes of both parties....Although he sometimes glosses over economic issues, he perceptively defines the differences between Republicans and Democrats....Edsall distinguishes himself as one of the rare political reporters who can move easily between the local, state, and national arenas.

From 2006 to 2014, Edsall served as the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Public Affairs Journalism at Columbia University, where he continues to teach in an adjunct capacity. In 2011, he became a weekly opinion columnist for the New York Times, where he currently continues. Previously, he covered national politics for the Washington Post from 1981 to 2006; covered politics for The Baltimore Sun (1967-1981); served as a VISTA volunteer (1966-1967); and reported for The Providence Journal (1965). He was the political editor of the Huffington Post from 2007 to 2009, a correspondent for The New Republic from 2006 to 2013 and for the National Journal from 2006 to 2007. In November and December 2006, Edsall was a guest columnist for the print edition of the New York Times Op-Ed page.

Edsall was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Linn Edsall and Katherine Byrne. He attended Brown University and received his B.A. from Boston University in 1966. He is married and lives in New York and Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary (daughter of Karl Deutsch), with whom he co-authored the book Chain Reaction.

• Shapiro Fellowship, School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University (2015)
• Markwell Award of the International Society of Political Psychology (2014)
• Finalist, General Non-Fiction, Pulitzer Prize, 1992, for Chain Reaction: The Impact on American Politics of Race, Rights and Taxes (W.W. Norton)
• Bill Pryor Memorial Award, Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, 1981
• Carey McWilliams Award, American Political Science Association, 1994
• Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 1996-1997
• Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University