Judy Woodruff: Political Pundit, Broadcast Veteran

Political reporter and TV news veteran Judy Woodruff talks about the changing landscape of American politics since her fledgling journalism days.

by Nicole D. Smith

October 14, 2008

P olitical reporter and broadcast veteran Judy Woodruff is quick to assert one thing: she will never insert her political opinion into the events she reports every day. That's a tough task as she observes American history being made in Washington before the curious eyes of the world. But Woodruff vows to not to give her personal outlook, just the facts.

"I was taught from my very first days as a reporter, working for WAGA-TV in Atlanta, that my job was to ask questions, do research, and share the results with the public," she says. "It was made crystal clear that my opinions had no role whatsoever in my reporting. That's the way I've worked ever since. My view is that viewers and listeners are not interested in what Judy Woodruff thinks but in knowing what information I've gathered. This is something that's ingrained in me as a journalist."

Her interest in politics was sparked as a young woman. Like so many college students, she started off at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., with a major that she thought she wanted to study. But with the help of Professor Carolyn Pauper she soon found her real passion.

"Honestly [my interest in politics] came from a course in political science when I was a freshman in college," says Woodruff as she recalls the beginning of political interest. "I was thinking I would major in math. I loved math. I was good at math. But I also happened to be taking a course in political science. And the professor ... really got me interested. She still teaches there."

Woodruff soon transferred to Duke University, graduating in 1968 with a degree in political science. But her career as a political reporter did not begin until after she had first paid some dues.

"Right after graduating from Duke ... I moved to Atlanta to work as news department secretary for what was then WQXI-TV, the then-ABC affiliate," Woodruff recalls. "That news director was the only one who offered me a job! I shared an apartment - and later a house - with classmates from Duke, and I met many wonderful people who remain friends until today." 

A year and a half later, Woodruff landed her first political reporting job, this one also with an Atlanta station.

"I was hired as a reporter at WAGA, assigned to cover state and local politics. I covered the Georgia state Legislature and the governor's office for five years. In 1976, I went to work for NBC News as one of their correspondents assigned to cover the southeastern United States. Atlanta remained my home base until early 1977, when I moved to Washington to cover the White House under President Jimmy Carter. What great memories I have of those eight years in [Atlanta]!" 

Now, with her reporting career 32 years long, the list of famous politicians and world leaders she has met includes Nelson Mandela and today's political rock stars Barack Obama and John McCain. She's never afraid to ask tough questions, and she expects honest answers. And when prodded, she can even offer general advice to our presidential candidates, both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, on how they should deal with the American people.   

"The only advice I would ever give is to be honest with the American people. That goes for both of them," she says. "Or anybody who wants to be in public office."

And, of course, covering the White House for the past eight years informs her guess on how American historians will remember these finals days of the Bush Administration.
 


"I think that President Bush himself has said - and a number of others, including the late William F. Buckley, who was the father of conservatism - that this president will be remembered for the war in Iraq, that it was the main national venture under his presidency," she says in her soft voice. "Now I think, in addition with this latest crisis and the financial markets, that that may well be a marker for his presidency as well."

And she says she sees, whether McCain or Obama wins the election, these events setting the stage for a new chapter in American history unlike any other. The 2008 election year, Woodruff says, has changed the political landscape in ways she would never have considered possible at the beginning of her career.



"[This year we have] the first African-American nominee, [Sen. Barack Obama,] for president for a major political party. That certainly was not even possible ... in the 1970s. This year we have a woman who came really close to becoming her party's nominee for president, Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton. Then we have the second woman who has been chosen a vice presidential nominee in Gov. [Sarah] Palin. ... And I would say John McCain makes history in his own way. This is the first time we've had a Vietnam prisoner of war serving as the nominee of a major political party. So in several respects, this is already a historic election. ... The face of politics has changed enormously."

Yet one scenario that Woodruff has yet to see is a woman as president. She says she believes that day may not be far away.

"There's a chance Sen. John McCain will be elected president, in which case, of course, Sarah Palin would be vice president. If, God forbid, something happened to 'President McCain,' Palin would ascend to the presidency. Whether this occurs or not, I believe there's a good chance a woman will be a serious candidate for president in 2012 and in 2016. Hillary Clinton came close this year to winning the Democratic nomination; and I think the chances for a woman as commander-in-chief grow larger every year going forward."

As times change, Judy Woodruff readily continues to take on the challenge of reporting for the American people, never becoming intimidated along the way.

"I see my role as someone who is there essentially as the eyes and ears of the American people. The American people should never be intimidated by their leaders. The leaders are here to serve us. And so that means I should not be intimidated," she says. "I should treat them with respect. But at the same time, I need to hold them – along with the American people – accountable for whatever it is they say they want to do, their policies and what they say their beliefs are. That's our jobs as reporters. We ask those questions, and we get answers."