Daniel Balz is an American journalist at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', where he has been a political correspondent since 1978. Balz has served as National Editor, Political Editor, White House correspondent and as the ''Washington Post''s

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

-based Southwest correspondent. Balz sometimes appears on the news show ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ...

'' and frequently appears on the PBS program ''

Washington Week ''Washington Week''—previously ''Washington Week in Review''—is an American public affairs television program, which has aired on PBS and its predecessor, National Educational Television, since 1967. Unlike other panel discussion shows whi ...

''. In April 2011 the

White House Correspondents' Association The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor t ...

honored Balz with the prestigious Merriman Smith Award for excellence in presidential coverage under deadline pressure.

Early life and education

Balz was born in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linco ...

. A 1964 graduate of Freeport High School he received bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1968 to 1971.

Career

Balz is co-author, with

Ronald Brownstein Ronald J. Brownstein (born April 6, 1958) is an American journalist, political correspondent, and analyst. Early life and education Brownstein was born to a Jewish family on April 6, 1958 in New York City, the son of Shirley and David Brownstein. ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', of the 1996 book ''Storming the Gates: Protest Politics and the Republican Revival''. In 1999, Balz received the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...

award for political coverage. Balz's latest work, co-written with Pulitzer Prize winner

Haynes Johnson Haynes Bonner Johnson (July 9, 1931May 24, 2013) was an American journalist, author, and television analyst. He reported on most of the major news stories of the latter half of the 20th century and was widely regarded as one of the top American po ...

in 2009, is ''The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election''. Based on two years of reporting, it includes exclusive interviews with then-candidates

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

and John McCain and many of their top advisers during the campaign and election. After college graduation, prior to entering military service, Balz worked for the

Freeport Journal Standard ''The Journal Standard'' is an American daily newspaper published Mondays through Saturdays in Freeport, Illinois. It is owned by Gannett. The newspaper's coverage area includes Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle and Stephenson Stephenson is a med ...

covering the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

and contemporaneous riots. Before coming to ''The Washington Post'', he worked as a reporter and deputy editor for ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...

'' and as a reporter for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

''.

Personal life

He is married to Nancy Johnson Balz and they have one son.

References

External links

*
Washington Post: Dan Balz

PBS WETA: Dan Balz

Harvard: Fellows: Dan Balz

Random House: Dan Balz

American Academy of Arts & Sciences: Dan Balz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balz, Dan 1946 births Living people American male journalists American newspaper reporters and correspondents People from Freeport, Illinois The Philadelphia Inquirer people University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media alumni The Washington Post people Journalists from Illinois American television journalists Freeport High School (Illinois) alumni United States Army soldiers