William H. Press (born April 8, 1940) is an American

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

host, podcaster, liberal pundit and author. He was chairman of the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento, the state capital. With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...

from 1993 to 1996, and is a senior political contributor on CNN. He hosts ''The Bill Press Pod'' podcast, and his weekly column is syndicated by Tribune Content Agency.

Education

Born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, and raised in Delaware City, Delaware, Press was educated at Salesianum School, a private

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

secondary school in Wilmington, in 1958, followed by Niagara University from which he gained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in Philosophy, and the University of Fribourg in which he gained a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree.

Life and career

Press is a longtime resident of Inverness, California, having moved there in 1970. He resides in Washington, D.C. Press started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and KCOP-TV. He has worked as a political commentator for CNN and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. He is best known for co-hosting CNN's '' Spin Room'' opposite Tucker Carlson, and '' Crossfire'' and MSNBC's '' Buchanan and Press''. Since May 2005, Press has been a contributing blogger at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. He also contributes blogs to '' The Hill''. In January 2012, Press filled in for Keith Olbermann on

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a small ...

's coverage of the 2012 Florida Republican primary.

In politics

Press was the chairman of the

from 1993 to 1996. He previously served in different appointed positions such as a

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to Republican California state senator Peter Behr (1971–73), and as director of the California Office of Planning and Research under Democratic governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

(1975–79). Press was an early backer of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

for president in 2016, hosting Sanders and his advisors for strategy sessions at his home before the campaign began.

Radio talk show

Since September 2005, Press has been hosting a daily liberal talk radio program, ''The Bill Press Show''. It is heard on satellite radio, streamed live from the show's website, and available from the show's YouTube channel. It was formerly broadcast on terrestrial radio affiliates in the United States live from 6-9 AM ET. Originally syndicated by Jones Radio, the radio show was syndicated by Dial Global until 2017. On March 5, 2012, the show was announced to be simulcast on

alongside '' The Stephanie Miller Show'' as part of morning programming. As a result of Current TV becoming '' Al Jazeera America'', ''The Bill Press Show'' moved to Free Speech TV, where it stayed until its move to The Young Turks Network in 2016. As part of the move to the Turks, terrestrial syndication of the program was dropped in January 2017 (except for WCPT-AM Chicago).

Religion

Press was steeped in Catholicism from an early age. He was an altar boy and took vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. He describes his young self as a "soldier in God's army".

Works

* ''Eyewitness : A California Perspective'', 1988. * ''Spin This: All the Ways We Don't Tell the Truth'', with a foreword by Bill Maher, 2002. * ''Bush Must Go!- The Top Ten Reasons Why George Bush Doesn't Deserve a Second Term'', 2004. * ''How The Republicans Stole Christmas: The Republican Party's Declared Monopoly on Religion and What Democrats Can Do to Take it Back'', 2005. * ''How The Republicans Stole Religion: Why the Religious Right is Wrong about Faith & Politics and What We Can Do to Make it Right'', Doubleday, 2005. * ''Trainwreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon)'', Wiley, 2008. * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Press, Bill 1940 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American bloggers American columnists American male non-fiction writers American political commentators American political writers American talk radio hosts California Democratic Party chairs HuffPost writers and columnists Journalists from Washington, D.C. MSNBC people Niagara University alumni People from Delaware City, Delaware People from Inverness, California University of Fribourg alumni Writers from Wilmington, Delaware The Young Turks people Catholics from Delaware Catholics from California Liberalism in the United States Salesianum School alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers