E.J. Dionne

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. excels in defining for readers the strengths and weaknesses of competing political philosophies. His analysis of American politics and trends of public sentiment is recognized as among the best in the business. He believes America is about to enter a new progressive era, a period of reform in government and renewed civic activism in our communities.

Dionne spent fourteen years with the New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. The Los Angeles Times praised his coverage of the Vatican as the best in two decades.

In 1990, Dionne joined the Washington Post as a reporter, covering national politics. His best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics (Simon & Schuster), was published in 1991. The book, which Newsday called “a classic in American political history,” won the Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee.

Dionne began his op-ed column for the Post in 1993, and it is syndicated to more than ninety other newspapers. He has been a regular commentator on politics on television and radio. His second book, They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era (Simon & Schuster), was published in February 1996. He is the editor of Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America (Brookings Press, 1998), and What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment (Brookings Press, 2000), co-edited with John DiIulio, Jr. Dionne co-edited Bush v. Gore (Brookings Press, 2000) with William Kristol, Sacred Places, Civic Purposes: Should Government Help Faith-Based Charity? with Ming Hsu Chen (Brookings Press, 2001), and United We Serve: National Service and the Future of Citizenship with Kayla Meltzer Drogosz and Robert E. Litan (Brookings Press 2003). He is the series co-editor with Jean Bethke Elshtain and Kayla Meltzer Drogosz to the Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion and Public Life, which include the recent publications: Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty and Welfare Reform (Brookings Press 2003), Is the Market Moral: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics and Justice (Brookings Press 2004), One Electorate Under God?: A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics (Brookings Press, 2004), and Liberty and Power: A Dialogue on American Foreign Policy in an Unjust World (Brookings Press, 2004). He is a regular political analyst on National Public Radio.

Dionne’s third book Stand Up Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Wimps, and the Politics of Revenge (Simon & Schuster) was published May 2004.

Dionne grew up in Fall River, Mass. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University in 1973 and received his doctorate from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1994-95, he was a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. In May 1996, Dionne joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow in the Governance Studies Program, then known as Governmental Studies. E.J. is senior advisor to The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Dionne began teaching at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute as University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture in the fall of 2003.

He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Mary and their three children, James, Julia and Margot.

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