Martha Raddatz | |
|---|---|
 Raddatz in an interview, 2014 | |
| Born | (1953-02-14)February 14, 1953 (age 72) Idaho Falls, Idaho, U.S. |
| Education | University of Utah (dropped out) |
| Occupation | ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Martha Raddatz (/ˈrædɪts/; born February 14, 1953) is an American reporter withABC News. She is the network's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent reporting for ABC'sWorld News Tonight with David Muir,Nightline, and other network broadcasts. In addition to her work for ABC News, Raddatz has written forThe New Republic and is a frequent guest onPBS'sWashington Week. Raddatz is the co-anchor and primary fill-in anchor onThis Week with George Stephanopoulos.
Raddatz was born inIdaho Falls, Idaho to Edward Dustin Raddatz and Doris Elaine (née Anderson).[1][2] Her family later moved toSalt Lake City. She attended theUniversity of Utah but dropped out to work at a local station.[3]
Prior to 1993, Raddatz was the chief correspondent at the ABC NewsBoston affiliateWCVB-TV. From 1993 to 1998, Raddatz covered thePentagon forNational Public Radio.
Raddatz began her tenure at ABC News in 1999 as the network'sState Department correspondent and became ABC's senior national security correspondent in May 2003, reporting extensively from Iraq. On June 8, 2006, Raddatz received a tip that terroristAbu Musab al-Zarqawi had been located and killed. This tip allowed Raddatz andABC News to become the first news organization in the world to break the news shortly after 2:30 a.m.EST.[4][5]
In a March 24, 2008, extended interview withDick Cheney conducted in Ankara, Turkey, on the fifth anniversary of the2003 invasion of Iraq, Raddatz posed a question about public opinion polls showing that Americans had lost confidence in the war, a question to which Cheney responded by saying "So?"[6] Raddatz appeared taken aback by the response, and Cheney's remark prompted widespread criticism, including a Washington Post op-ed by former Republican Congressman and Cheney friendMickey Edwards.[7]
Raddatz is also the author of theNew York Times bestsellerThe Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family, a book about theSiege of Sadr City,Iraq. ATV mini series based on the book aired onNatGeo in late 2017.
After the national security beat, Raddatz became the network's chiefWhite House correspondent for the last term of theGeorge W. Bush administration.[4] On January 9, 2007, Raddatz'smobile phone went off during aWhite House press briefing withTony Snow. Of particular humor was her musical ring tone,Chamillionaire's "Ridin'." The press corps and Tony Snow enjoyed a few moments of laughter.[8]
Raddatz was appointed to her current position as ABC's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent in November 2008.
Raddatz served as the moderator of theVice-Presidential debate on October 11, 2012, betweenPaul Ryan andJoe Biden atCentre College inDanville, Kentucky.[9] Raddatz also served alongsideAnderson Cooper as co-moderator for thesecond presidential debate in2016, betweenHillary Clinton andDonald Trump atWashington University in St. Louis.[10] Cooper and Raddatz were reviewed and some commentators noted their "no-nonsense approach" and "aggressive style", though Raddatz was criticized for a challenge to one of Trump's statements, which some journalists felt "fell outside of her mandate as moderator".[11]
The Guardian said in 2014 that Raddatz "is known for having well-cultivated sources inside theDefense Department."[12]
Raddatz appeared as a reporter interviewing the President-elect of the United States in the 2017 episode "Imminent Risk" of theShowtime seriesHomeland.[13][14]
Raddatz resides inArlington, Virginia, with her third husband, journalistTom Gjelten. She has two children from two previous marriages: a daughter, Greta Bradlee,[15] and a son, Jake Genachowski.[16] Her first husband wasBen Bradlee Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor forThe Boston Globe,[17] biographer, and son of formerWashington Post executive editorBenjamin C. Bradlee.[18] Her second husband wasJulius Genachowski, chairman of theU.S. Federal Communications Commission under theObama administration.[19] PresidentBarack Obama attended their wedding in 1991, when he and Genachowski were students atHarvard Law School.[20]
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