Susan Lea Page (born February 12, 1951) 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 ...

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

, and

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, and the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''.

Early life

Page, a native of

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, is a 1973 graduate of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

, where she was editor-in-chief of the '' Daily Northwestern'', and has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

, where she was a Pulitzer Fellow. As a child, Page had two passions: music and journalism. She began studying oboe in the third grade and played it in the school orchestras throughout her public school education. She was also the editor-in-chief of her high school yearbook, ''The Hoofbeats'', and served as a reporter and editor for her high school newspaper, ''The Stampede''. She considered attending music school, but ultimately decided to pursue journalism at Northwestern University.

Career

Page has covered seven White House administrations and eleven presidential elections, and interviewed ten presidents. She founded and hosts a video newsmaker series for ''USA Today'', "Capital Download". She appears frequently on cable news networks as an analyst and often guest-hosted '' The Diane Rehm Show'', which was syndicated on

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 ...

. She was the first woman to serve as music chairman of the

Gridiron Club The Gridiron Club is the oldest and most selective journalistic organization in Washington, D.C. History :"an elitist social club of sixty print journalists" — Hedrick Smith, ''Power Game: How Washington Works'' February 1988 Random House ...

show and was also president of the club in 2011, the oldest association of journalists in Washington. She was president of the White House Correspondents Association in 2000. She also served as chairman of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards and has twice been a juror for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

s. Her first book was published in 2019, a biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush titled ''The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty''. In 2021, her biography of House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

was published, titled ''Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power''. Page signed a deal with Simon & Schuster in 2021 to write a biography of broadcaster

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, ...

. Page was selected as the moderator of the 2020 vice presidential debate between

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

and

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 ...

, which took place on October 7, 2020, in

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 ...

. Page attracted scrutiny over her journalistic ethics when investigations revealed she had hosted off-the-record events for Trump administration officials like CMS Administrator Seema Verma. ''USA Today'' defended her participation, claiming she put on the soirees for female officials of both parties. She is a frequent panelist on ''

Fox News Sunday ''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Hos ...

'', '' This Week'' on ABC, '' Washington Week'' on PBS, and ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

'' on NBC.

Awards

She has won several awards for her work, including the Merriman Smith Memorial Award, the Aldo Beckman Memorial Award, the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency (twice) and the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Washington Correspondence (shared).

Personal life

In 1982, she married Carl Leubsdorf, syndicated columnist and former Washington bureau chief for ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', in a non-denominational ceremony in

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 ...

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

*https://susanpagedc.com/
Her bio from usatoday.comInterview with Susan Page in the recruiting section of usatoday.com (2004)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Susan 1951 births Living people 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 21st-century American biographers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Journalists from Kansas Medill School of Journalism alumni People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election USA Today journalists Writers from Wichita, Kansas