Dana Ruth Bash (née Schwartz; born June 15, 1971)
is an
American journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, news anchor, host of ''
Inside Politics'' and co-anchor of ''
State of the Union
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...
'' on
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
.
Early life and education
Bash was born Dana Ruth Schwartz in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
into a Jewish family, to Frances (née Weinman) Schwartz, an author and educator in
Jewish studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...
, and
Stuart Schwartz, an
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
producer who served as the senior broadcast producer for ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
''.
Bash's maternal grandmother, Teri Vidor Weinman, and her family were Hungarian Jews. Weinman escaped to the U.S. with her husband in October 1941, but her parents and sister were murdered at
Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
after the
occupation of Hungary in 1944.
Bash moved with her family to
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...
, and shortly thereafter to
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, returning to
Montvale, New Jersey, as a preteen.
Bash attended
Pascack Hills High School in Montvale. She graduated ''
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' with a bachelor's degree in political communications from
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
. While at college, she interned at
NBC,
CBS, and
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
.
In May 2018, Bash received an honorary
Doctorate of Humane Letters from
Franklin Pierce University
Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional development, professional preparat ...
in
Rindge, New Hampshire
Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,476 at the 2020 census, up from 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines and part of Annett Stat ...
.
Career
After college, Bash joined CNN as a producer of their weekend programs such as ''
Late Edition'', ''
Evans & Novak'', and ''
Inside Politics'' (later occasionally filling in for regular host
John King). Later, she began producing programming specializing in coverage of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
, eventually becoming CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent.
Bash was one of the women honored at ''
Elle
Elle may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication
** Elle Style Awards
* Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition
* Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film
* ''Elle: ...
'' magazine's 2014 "Women in Washington Power List" event.
Bash was host of the 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate where
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
was noted for making her "that little girl was me" statement to
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
.
In 2021, Bash joined
Jake Tapper to become co-host of CNN's Sunday morning show ''
State of The Union
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...
.''
In April 2023, CNN announced that Bash would succeed
John King as solo anchor of ''
Inside Politics''.
In 2024, she co-moderated a Republican primary debate in Iowa alongside Tapper between
Nikki Haley and
Ron DeSantis
Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...
. She also co-moderated the
2024 presidential debate between
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and Joe Biden, also alongside Tapper.
In 2024, Hanover Square Press published her book, written with David Fisher, about the
1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election. It is titled ''America's Deadliest Election: The Shocking True Story of the Election that Changed American History''.
Personal life

From 1998 to 2007, Bash was married to
Jeremy Bash, who would become
CIA chief of staff and
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
chief of staff under President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. In 2008, she married fellow CNN correspondent
John King. Bash gave birth to a son in 2011; she and King divorced in 2012.
In 2011, she resigned as a trustee of
Jewish Women International
Jewish Women International (JWI) is a Jewish-American social service organization founded in 1897 by American Jewish women associated with B'nai B'rith, an international Jewish social service organization.
The organization's mission is described ...
under pressure over its
abortion-rights advocacy. A number of conservative blogs had highlighted the group's position on abortion after Bash accepted the trustee position.
Notes
References
External links
Dana Bash's profile at CNN*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bash, Dana
1971 births
American television reporters and correspondents
CNN people
George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs alumni
Living people
Pascack Hills High School alumni
People from Montvale, New Jersey
Mass media people from Teaneck, New Jersey
American women television journalists
Jewish American journalists
People associated with the 2024 United States presidential election
Schwartz family (journalism)
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews