Brit Hume

Brit Hume
Born Alexander Britton Hume
June 22, 1943
Washington, D.C., United States
Alma mater B.A., University of Virginia[1]
Occupation Television journalist
Notable credit(s) ABC News correspondent (1976–1988)
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent (1989–1996)
Special Report with Brit Hume anchor (1996–2008)
Fox News Senior Political Analyst (since 2008)
Religion Episcopalian[2]
Spouse(s) Clare Jacobs Stoner (divorced)
Kim Schiller Hume
Children Louis, Virginia, Sandy Hume (deceased)[3]

Alexander Britton "Brit" Hume (born June 22, 1943) is a political commentator and television journalist.

Hume had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline and This Week.[1] He served as ABC's chief White House correspondent from 1989 through 1996.[4] He then spent 12 years as the Washington, D.C., managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor of Special Report with Brit Hume.[5] Since 2008, he has been the senior political analyst for Fox News and a regular public-affairs panelist for the television program Fox News Sunday.

Early life and education

He was born in Washington, D.C., the son of George Graham Hume and Virginia Powell (née Minnigerode) Hume. Through his father, Hume is of part Scottish descent.[6]

Hume attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., at the same time as Al Gore and graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Arts in English during 1965.[7][8]

Career

1960s-1970s

Hume worked first for The Hartford Times newspaper company, and later for United Press International and the newspaper Baltimore Evening Sun.[9] He then worked for syndicated columnist Jack Anderson from 1970 to 1972.[10]

Hume reported a story for Jack Anderson's column "Washington Merry-Go-Round" that after ITT Corporation had contributed $400,000 to the 1972 Republican National Convention, President Richard Nixon's Department of Justice had settled the antitrust case against ITT. Anderson published a series of classified documents indicating the Nixon administration, contrary to its public pronouncements, had favored Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After those revelations, Anderson and his staff, including Hume and his family were briefly surveilled by the Central Intelligence Agency during 1972.[11][12] The agents code-named Hume "eggnog" and observed his family going about their daily business. These documents were revealed during President Gerald Ford's administration by congressional hearings, and as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and the so-called 'Family Jewels' revelations.

During 1973, Hume became Washington editor of MORE magazine, a press criticism journal.[13] That same year, Hume started working for ABC News during 1973 as a consultant and during 1976 was offered a job as a correspondent, covering the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for 11 years. During 1979, Hume earned televisions' first Academy Award nomination for his work for ABC's Close-Up documentary program.[13]

1980s-1990s

Hume was assigned to report on Walter Mondale's presidential campaign during 1984 and Vice President George H.W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. During 1989, he became ABC's chief White House correspondent,[9] covering the administrations of Presidents Bush and Bill Clinton and working closely with Peter Jennings and Charlie Gibson.[10]

During late 1996, he left ABC for the fledgling Fox News Network, for which his wife had recently become chief of the Washington bureau.[9][13] At his last news conference as ABC's chief White House correspondent, President Clinton told him, "I think all of us think you have done an extraordinary, professional job under Republican and Democratic administrations alike."[10] Hume became Fox News's Washington managing editor and was in discussions about starting a Washington-based television news program for the 6 p.m. timeslot. The Lewinsky scandal began during January 1998, and Hume's wife told him the story was so well known that he should start the show immediately; Special Report with Brit Hume was initiated that evening.[10]

2000s-2010s

During July 2008, it was reported that Hume would quit as an anchor at the end of the year.[14] On December 23, 2008, he hosted his final episode as anchor of Special Report, announcing that Bret Baier, then the chief White House correspondent for Fox News, would be his replacement. Hume also announced that he would remain with Fox News as a senior political analyst and regular panelist for the program Fox News Sunday.

On January 3, 2010, Hume generated some controversy when on Fox News Sunday he advised embattled golfer Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity to attempt to end his problems. Hume's comments were made after the revelation of Woods' habitual adultery and the resulting deterioration of his relationship with his family.[15]

Personal life

Hume, generally regarded as a conservative,[16] said during 2006: "Sure, I'm a conservative, no doubt about it. But I would ask people to look at the work."[10]

Previously married to and divorced from Clare Jacobs Stoner, Hume is married to Kim Schiller Hume, Fox News vice president and former Washington bureau chief.[17]

His son, Washington journalist Sandy Hume, was a reporter for the newspaper The Hill and first publicized the story of the aborted 1997 political attempt to replace Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. During February 1998, Sandy Hume committed suicide. The National Press Club honors his memory with its annual Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism.[10][3]

Hume has said that he committed his life to Jesus Christ "in a way that was very meaningful" to him in the aftermath of his son's death by suicide during 1998.[18]

Awards

Hume is the recipient of several awards including:[19][20]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Brit Hume reflects on his life in the media". University of Virginia Reporter. Spring 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  2. ↑ McKenzie, Bill (January 12, 2010). "Texas Faith: Brit Hume and Tiger Woods". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tapper, Jake (March 13, 1998). "Suicide Watch". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Huff, Richard (October 15, 2008). "Why Brit Hume will quit anchoring at Fox News". New York Daily News. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Gough, Paul (November 5, 2008). "Fox News' Brit Hume leaving for family, religion". Reuters. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Hume, Alexander Britton". Ancestry.Com. RootsWeb. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Vogel, Chris (May 1, 2006). "Prep Schools of the Power Brokers". Washingtonian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Bedard, Paul (August 19, 2012). "Brit Hume: I stumbled into journalism". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Brit Hume". Fox News Network. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Kurtz, Howard (April 19, 2006). "Moving to the Right: Brit Hume's Path Took Him from Liberal Outsider to the Low-Key Voice of Conservatism on Fox News". The Washington Post. p. C01. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  11. ↑ "Documents Show CIA Spying on Journalists, Including Brit Hume and Michael Getler". Associated Press (via Editor & Publisher). Associated Press. June 21, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  12. ↑ Wilderotter, James A.; CIA Director William Colby, CIA General Counsel John Warner (January 3, 1975). "CIA Matters (memorandum for the file)" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Murray, Michael. Encyclopedia of Television News. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 100. ISBN 1573561088.
  14. ↑ Kurtz, Howard (July 16, 2008). "Fox's Hume to Step Down". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Pulliam Bailey, Sarah (January 7, 2010). "Q & A: Brit Hume The former news anchor for Fox News explains why he told Tiger Woods to turn to the Christian faith.". Christianity Today. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  16. ↑ Kurtz, Howard (January 6, 2009). "Bret Baier, the Successor to Brit Hume on Fox's 'Special Report'". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "The Kim Hume interview". Washington Whispers (U.S. News & World Report). September 25, 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  18. ↑ Shales, Tom (January 5, 2010). "Brit Hume's off message: Have faith, Tiger Woods, as long as it's Christianity". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Q&A - Brit Hume". C-SPAN. July 20, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  20. ↑ Wallace, Lena (May 26, 2014). "Brit Hume to be 2014 Speaker". The Yellow Jacket (Randolph-Macon College). Retrieved 12 December 2014.

External links

Media offices
Preceded by
Sam Donaldson		 ABC News Chief White House Correspondent
1989–1996 		Succeeded by
John Donvan