Martha Raddatz (; born February 14, 1953) is an American reporter with
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 ...
. She is the network's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent reporting for ABC's ''
World News Tonight with David Muir'', ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...
'', and other network broadcasts. In addition to her work for ABC News, Raddatz has written for ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'' and is a frequent guest on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
's ''
Washington Week''. Raddatz is the co-anchor and primary fill-in anchor on ''
This Week with George Stephanopoulos
''This Week'', originally titled as ''This Week with David Brinkley'' and billed as ''This Week with George Stephanopoulos'' since 2012, is an American Sunday morning political affairs program airing on ABC. It premiered on November 15, 1981, ...
''.
Early life
Raddatz was born in
Idaho Falls, Idaho to Edward Dustin Raddatz and Doris Elaine (née Anderson). Her family later moved to
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
. She attended the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
but dropped out to work at a local station.
Career

Prior to 1993, Raddatz was the chief correspondent at the ABC News
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
affiliate
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...
. From 1993 to 1998, Raddatz covered the
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
for
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
.
Raddatz began her tenure at ABC News in 1999 as the network's
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
correspondent and became ABC's senior national security correspondent in May 2003, reporting extensively from Iraq. On June 8, 2006, Raddatz received a tip that terrorist
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...
had been located and killed. This tip allowed Raddatz and
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 ...
to become the first news organization in the world to break the news shortly after 2:30 a.m.
EST.
In a March 24, 2008, extended interview with
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
conducted in Ankara, Turkey, on the fifth anniversary of the
2003 invasion of Iraq, Raddatz posed a question about public opinion polls showing that Americans had lost confidence in the war, a question to which Cheney responded by saying "So?" Raddatz appeared taken aback by the response, and Cheney's remark prompted widespread criticism, including a Washington Post op-ed by former Republican Congressman and Cheney friend
Mickey Edwards.
Raddatz is also the author of the
''New York Times'' bestseller ''The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family'', a book about the
Siege of Sadr City,
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. A
TV mini series based on the book aired on
NatGeo in late 2017.
After the national security beat, Raddatz became the network's chief
White House correspondent for the last term of the
George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...
.
[ On January 9, 2007, Raddatz's ]mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
went off during a White House press briefing with Tony Snow
Robert Anthony Snow (June 1, 1955 – July 12, 2008) was an American journalist, political commentator, anchor, columnist, musician, and the 25th White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush, from May 2006 until his resignation ...
. Of particular humor was her musical ring tone, Chamillionaire
Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He began his career in Houston's hip hop scene in the late 1990s. He was briefly signed with the local record label Swishah ...
's "Ridin'
"Ridin is a song by American rapper Chamillionaire featuring fellow American rapper Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, released on November 12, 2005, as the second single from his debut studio album '' The Sound of Revenge'' (2005). Produce ...
." The press corps and Tony Snow enjoyed a few moments of laughter.
Raddatz was appointed to her current position as ABC's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent in November 2008.
Raddatz served as the moderator of the Vice-Presidential debate on October 11, 2012, between Paul Ryan
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...
and 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 ...
at Centre College
Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...
in Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micr ...
. Raddatz also served alongside Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator who anchors the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at CNN, Cooper serves as a correspondent for ''6 ...
as co-moderator for the second presidential debate in 2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, between Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and 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 ...
at Washington University in St. Louis. Cooper and Raddatz were reviewed and some commentators noted their "no-nonsense approach" and "aggressive style", though Raddatz was criticized for a challenge to one of Trump's statements, which some journalists felt "fell outside of her mandate as moderator".
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' said in 2014 that Raddatz "is known for having well-cultivated sources inside the Defense Department."
Raddatz appeared as a reporter interviewing the President-elect of the United States in the 2017 episode " Imminent Risk" of the Showtime series ''Homeland
A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...
''.
Personal life
Raddatz resides in Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, with her third husband, journalist Tom Gjelten. She has two children from two previous marriages: a daughter, Greta Bradlee, and a son, Jake Genachowski. Her first husband was Ben Bradlee Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor for ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'', biographer, and son of former ''Washington Post'' executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee. Her second husband was Julius Genachowski, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...
under the Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
. 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 ...
attended their wedding in 1991, when he and Genachowski were students at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
.
References
External links
Profile
at ''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 ...
''
Martha Raddatz
on '' NPR''
*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Raddatz, September 17, 2006
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Raddatz, January 9, 2011
*
*
Interview
on ''The Long Road Home'' at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raddatz, Martha
American television reporters and correspondents
American radio reporters and correspondents
American war correspondents
1953 births
Living people
News & Documentary Emmy Award winners
Peabody Award winners
American women war correspondents
Women military writers
American military writers
Television anchors from Boston
Journalists from Arlington County, Virginia
People from Idaho Falls, Idaho
Writers from Salt Lake City
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American women journalists
20th-century American journalists
21st-century American women journalists
21st-century American journalists
American women television journalists
American women radio journalists