Martha Raddatz
Birth dateFebruary 14, 1953 (age 73)
Birth placeIdaho Falls, Idaho, U.S.
EmployerABC News
OccupationChief Global Affairs Correspondent
Years active1999–present
EducationUniversity of Utah (attended)
Spouse

Martha Raddatz (/ˈrædᵻts/; born February 14, 1953) is an American reporter with ABC News. She is the network's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent reporting for ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, and other network broadcasts. In addition to her work for ABC News, Raddatz has written for The New Republic and is a frequent guest on PBS's Washington Week. Raddatz is the co-anchor and primary fill-in anchor on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Early life

Raddatz was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho,[1][2] to Edward Dustin Raddatz and Doris Elaine (née Anderson).[3][4] Her family later moved to Salt Lake City. She attended the University of Utah but dropped out to work at a local station.[5]

Career

Early career

Prior to 1993, Raddatz was the chief correspondent at the ABC News Boston affiliate WCVB-TV.[6][7] From 1993 to 1998, Raddatz covered the Pentagon for National Public Radio.[7][8]

ABC News

Raddatz began her tenure at ABC News in 1999 as the network's State Department 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 had been located and killed. This tip allowed Raddatz and ABC News to become the first news organization in the world to break the news shortly after 2:30 a.m. EST.[9][10] In May 2007, she reported from Ramallah.[11]

In a March 24, 2008, extended interview with Dick Cheney 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?"[12] 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.[13] Leading up to the interview with Cheney, four thousand United States Armed Forces personnel had died.[14]

After the national security beat, Raddatz became the network's chief White House correspondent for the last term of the George W. Bush administration.[9] On January 9, 2007, Raddatz's mobile phone went off during a White House press briefing with Tony Snow. Of particular humor was her musical ring tone, Chamillionaire's "Ridin'." The press corps and Tony Snow enjoyed a few moments of laughter.[15][16]

In 2008 while reporting in Iraq, Shameem Rassam and Raddatz gave information on Iraqi life to Barbara Delinsky.[17]

Raddatz was appointed as ABC's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent in November 2008.[18]

Raddatz served as the moderator of the Vice-Presidential debate on October 11, 2012, between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.[19] Raddatz also served alongside Anderson Cooper as co-moderator for the second presidential debate in 2016, between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Washington University in St. Louis.[20] 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".[21]

The Guardian said in 2014 that Raddatz "is known for having well-cultivated sources inside the Defense Department."[22]

In February 2014, ABC News announced Raddatz would become substitute anchor for This Week with George Stephanopoulos.[23] In January 2016, ABC News announced she would become co-anchor of the program.[7]

In 2024 while reporting from Ukraine, Raddatz gave insight and wisdom to her younger colleagues reporting in the country.[24]

Author

Raddatz wrote the New York Times bestseller The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family in 2007, a book about the Siege of Sadr City, Iraq.[25] A TV mini series based on the book aired on NatGeo in late 2017.[26]

In 2026, Raddatz wrote The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose.[27][28]

Raddatz appeared as a reporter interviewing the President-elect of the United States in the 2017 episode "Imminent Risk" of the Showtime series Homeland.[29][30]

Personal life

Raddatz resides in Arlington, Virginia, with her third husband, journalist Tom Gjelten. She has two children from two previous marriages: a daughter, Greta Bradlee,[31] and a son, Jake Genachowski.[32] Her first husband was Ben Bradlee Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor for The Boston Globe,[33] biographer, and son of former Washington Post executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee.[34] Her second husband was Julius Genachowski, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission under the Obama administration.[35] President Barack Obama attended their wedding in 1991, when he and Genachowski were students at Harvard Law School.[36]

References

  1. ^ "A best-selling book by former Utahn Martha Raddatz is now a shattering miniseries about war and family". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
  2. ^ "Women of Washington: Martha Raddatz of ABC News". NBC4 Washington. 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
  3. ^ gw.geneanet.org/
  4. ^ "Martha Raddatz, 11/13/08 interview on Idaho Public TV at 2:25 "I was born in Idaho Falls,.." Retrieved 10/12/12."
  5. ^ Kurtz, Howard. "Martha Raddatz, Putting Herself in the Thick of Things". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  6. ^ "2026 Fourth Estate Award Gala honoring Martha Raddatz of ABC News". press.org. National Press Club. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  7. ^ Steinberg, Brian (January 22, 2016). "Martha Raddatz Named Co-Anchor of ABC’s 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 60626328. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  8. ^ "Martha Raddatz". National Press Foundation. National Press Club. 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  9. ^ "Martha Raddatz". ABC News. Disney Entertainment Television. February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  10. ^ Bauder, David (June 8, 2006). "ABC News scores overnight beat on story of al-Zarqawi's death". San Diego Union Tribune. Southern California News Group. Associated Press. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  11. ^ Hollihan 2014, p. 223.
  12. ^ "Full Interview: Dick Cheney on Iraq". ABC News. Disney Entertainment Television. March 24, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  13. ^ Edwards, Mickey (March 22, 2008). "Dick Cheney's Error: It's Government By the People". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  14. ^ "American Death Toll In Iraq Hits 4,000: Bush Stands Firm". The Vindicator. Ogden Newspapers Inc.. March 27, 2008. ISSN 0890-9857. OCLC 12961328. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  15. ^ Raddatz, Martha (January 9, 2007). "Tone of the Briefing". The World Newser. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  16. ^ Goldman, Russell (October 12, 2012). "At VP Debate, Martha Raddatz Keeps It 'Gangsta'". ABC News. Disney Entertainment Television. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  17. ^ Delinsky 2006, p. 8.
  18. ^ Bryers, Dylan (October 10, 2012). "Martha Raddatz takes center stage". Politico. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  19. ^ "Martha Raddatz to Moderate VP Debate". ABC News. Disney Entertainment Television. August 13, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  20. ^ Borchers, Callum (2016-09-29). "Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz drop hints about the second Clinton-Trump debate". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  21. ^ Grinapol, Corinne (October 10, 2016). "How Did Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper Do as Moderators?". Adweek. Shamrock Capital. ISSN 0199-2864. OCLC 52059332. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  22. ^ Weaver, Matthew & McCarthy, Tom (March 13, 2014). "MH370 search: Pentagon sends destroyer through Malacca Strait – live". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  23. ^ Bryers, Dylan (February 27, 2014). "Martha Raddatz to split hosting duties on ABC's 'This Week'". Politico. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  24. ^ Mammadov 2024, p. 60.
  25. ^ Raddatz, Martha (2007). The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family (Hardcover). New York City: Putnam Adult. ISBN 978-0399153822. Alt URL
  26. ^ Ryan, Maureen (November 6, 2017). "TV Review: 'The Long Road Home' on National Geographic". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 60626328. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  27. ^ Raddatz, Martha (2026). The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose (Hardcover). New York City: Avid Reader Press. ISBN 978-1668093801.
  28. ^ Inskeep, Steve (May 25, 2026). "ABC News' Martha Raddatz talks about her new book, 'The Hero Next Door'". Connecticut Public Television. Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  29. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (March 6, 2017). "Homeland Recap: Dar Adal Works All Angles in Episode 7, 'Imminent Risk'". Variety. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  30. ^ Riccio, Aaron (March 5, 2017). "Homeland Recap: Season 6, Episode 7, 'Imminent Risk'". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  31. ^ "Martha Raddatz". Contemporary Authors. Detroit: Gale Biography In Context. 2008. Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000179311. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  32. ^ Larkin, Johnnie (June 11, 2011). "Martha Raddatz is Chief White House correspondent for ABC News". TV Newsroom. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  33. ^ "Ben Bradlee Jr.". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 30, 2002. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  34. ^ Groer, Annie (February 16, 2010). "Quinn Bradlee to Marry on Greta Bradlee's Long-Planned Wedding Day". Politics Daily. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  35. ^ "FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 7, 2009
  36. ^ "ABC News defends Martha Raddatz". USA Today. October 10, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2018.

Sources