Eleanor Clift is a columnist for the Daily Beast, an online publication where she writes about politics and culture. She was formerly with Newsweek, where she covered the White House and was a key member of the magazine’s election team. When Newsweek merged with the Daily Beast under the editorial direction of the legendary Tina Brown, Clift wrote for both publications.
Her cover story about the television show, Mad Men, won acclaim for capturing the era when women were relegated to the secretarial pool. When the Daily Beast sold Newsweek in 2013, Clift stayed with the Beast, betting on its digital future as opposed to the shrinking world of print journalism.
Clift is perhaps best known as a panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group,” which returned in January 2018 after an eighteen-month hiatus following the death of host and creator, John McLaughlin. Clift also offers insights each Friday on the Michelangelo Signorile Show on Sirius XM Satellite radio, and has appeared as herself in several movies, including “Dave,” “Independence Day,” “Murder at 1600,” and the CBS show, “Murphy Brown.”
She has authored or co-authored several books, including, “Selecting a President,” “Founding Sisters and the 19th Amendment,” “Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics,” “Madam President: Blazing the Leadership Trail,” and “War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics.”
Clift lives in Washington, D.C., where she is on the advisory council of the International Women’s Media Foundation, the boards of the American News Women’s Club and RespectAbility, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, and the Board of Governors of the National Hospice Foundation.