George Will

This article is about the journalist. For the golfer, see George Will (golfer).

George Will
Will in 2022
Born
George Frederick Will

(1941-05-04) May 4, 1941 (age 83)
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
EducationTrinity College (BA)
Magdalen College, Oxford (MA)
Princeton University (MA, PhD)
Occupations
  • Columnist
  • author
Employer(s)Newsweek
The Washington Post
Political partyRepublican (before 2016)
Independent (after 2016)
Spouses
Madeleine Will
​
​
(m. 1967; div. 1989)​
​
(m. 1991)​
Children4
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Commentary (1977)

George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian conservative writer and political commentator. He writes columns for The Washington Post on a regular basis, and provides commentary for NewsNation.[1] In 1986, The Wall Street Journal called him "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America".[2][3] Will won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977.[4]

A former member of the Republican Party, Will was a close ally of Ronald Reagan during his presidential campaign in 1980. He assisted Reagan with debate preparation, and was later falsely accused by former President Jimmy Carter of providing Reagan with a top secret briefing book in a scandal known as Debategate, an allegation Carter later retracted.

In later years, he became a critic of Republican politicians, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Donald Trump. Will's disapproval of Trump's presidential campaign led him to become an independent in 2016,[5] and he subsequently voted for Joe Biden in 2020,[6] and stated in September 2024 he would be voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.[7]

  1. ^ "George Will on NewsNation". NewsNation. June 30, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  2. ^ D'Evelyn, Thomas (October 26, 1986). "Will's collection of columns chronicles his conservatism". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Quoted in Eric Alterman, Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (1999) pp. 87–88.
  4. ^ "George F. Will of The Washington Post Writers Group". www.pulitzer.org. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NotRepublican was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference BidenVote was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).