Thomas Oliphant is an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who was the Washington correspondent and a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...

for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''.

Life and career

Oliphant was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He graduated from La Jolla High School in California and in 1967 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

.Tom Oliphant Biography
, Website of the United States Embassy to Poland, accessed February 13, 2010 In 1968 he joined the ''Boston Globe''. During his career with the newspaper, he served as its Washington

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locat ...

and reported on ten Presidential campaigns. The Boys on the Bus, Timothy Crouse's account of the 1972 United States presidential campaign, included Oliphant as one of the prominent journalists among "the boys" covering the campaign. Oliphant was one of three editors who managed ''The Globe'' coverage of school desegregation in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, work which won a 1975 Pulitzer Prize, and he was a finalist in 1980 in the category of Editorial Writing. He also received a writing award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. In March 2005, Oliphant suffered a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circu ...

. His account of the experience and his recovery appeared in The Globe on June 5, 2005, At the end of 2005, he was one of 32 ''Globe'' staff members who accepted a

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

buyout package from the New York Times Company, owner of ''The Globe''. Oliphant has been a frequent guest on television news programs, including '' Nightline'' on ABC-TV, ''

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

'' on PBS, '' Face The Nation'', the '' Today'' show, ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'' and '' CBS This Morning''. His last appearance on

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer (; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Lehrer was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS NewsHour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a de ...

's program was on Wednesday, August 26, 2009, when he discussed the legacy of

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. Oliphant was also a regular guest on The Al Franken Show, where he also appeared as a guest host in August 2006. Oliphant is married to CBS reporter Susan Spencer.

Don Imus controversy

In April 2007, Oliphant became involved in controversy arising from some vulgar remarks that

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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

host

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, '' Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various sta ...

made regarding

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

players on the

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

women's basketball team. On April 9, 2007, Oliphant was a guest on the Imus' morning radio show in the midst of the developing controversy. Imus had apologized for his comment before that show, and Oliphant explained his decision to appear on the show to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', saying "He said he screwed up and he was sorry." On that evening's ''NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'', Oliphant was critical of Imus' remarks, calling them "inexcusably horrible", but said "I don't think he should be fired."Columnists React to Don Imus' Remarks About Rutgers Players
PBS Newshour transcript, April 9, 2007; accessed February 13, 2010 Oliphant, after declaring solidarity with Imus, announced that he would no longer appear on television or radio until Imus was reinstated to both his radio show and the MSNBC simulcast.

Books

* (co-author with Curtis Wilkie) ''The Road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-year Campaign'' (May 9, 2017) * (co-author) '' Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game'', (2013)
''Utter Incompetents. Ego and Ideology in the Age of Bush''
(2007)

Thomas Dunne Books Thomas Dunne Books was an imprint of St. Martin's Press, which is a division of Macmillan Publishers. From 1986 until April 2020, it published popular trade fiction and nonfiction. History The imprint signed David Irving, a scholar, for a Josep ...

. * ''Praying for

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges ('' né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as ...

: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers'', (2005) * (co-author) ''All by Myself: The Unmaking of a Presidential Campaign'', (1989)

References

External links

* * Articles and columns written by Thomas Oliphant through December 2005 are available for a fee on the
Boston Globe
' website.
The Kerry I Know
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliphant, Thomas Living people The Boston Globe people Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard University alumni Place of birth missing (living people)