Will, George (1941–)

In 2006 George Will's syndicated newspaper column appeared twice weekly in more than 475 newspapers. However, trying to assign an occupation to George Will is difficult. Although Will is one of the most recognizable conservative political commentators on television, he could also add college professor and author to his résumé. George Frederick Will was born May 4, 1941, in Champaign, Illinois. He received a B.A. degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Oxford, and a Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University in 1968. After 2 years of service to Senator Gordon Allott (R-CO) from 1970 to 1972, Will began his career in public life.

Will was the Washington editor of the National Review from 1973 to 1976. He began his career as a syndicated writer in 1974 when he wrote a column for the Writers Group, founded by The Washington Post's Ben Bradlee and Katherine Graham. In 1976 Will became a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine and one year later, in 1977, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Other writing awards include the 1978 National Headlines Award for “consistently outstanding special features columns” appearing in Newsweek; a finalist citation in the Essays and Criticism category on the 1979 National Awards competition; a column on New York City's finances earned a 1980 Silurian Award for Editorial Writing; in January 1985, the Washington Journalism Review named Will “Best Writer, Any Subject”; and he was named one of the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Review in 1997.

Will began working as an ABC News panelist and commentator in 1981 with the premier of This Week with David Brinkley. This Week subsequently became This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and Will remained a regular weekly contributor to the program.

Will has published seven collections of his Newsweek and newspaper columns, including The Pursuit of Happiness and Other Sobering Thoughts (1978); The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory Notions (1982); The Morning After: American Successes and Excesses 1981–1986 (1986); Suddenly: The American Idea Abroad and at Home 1986–1990 (1990); The Leveling Wind: Politics, the Culture & Other News 1990–1994 (1994); The Woven Figure: Conservatism and America's Fabric, 1994–1997 (1997); and With a Happy Eye But… America and the World 1997–2002 (2002).

Five other books include three on political theory: Statecraft as Soulcraft (1983); The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election (1987); and Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy (1992). The other two are on baseball: Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball (1989); and Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose and Other Reflections on Baseball (1998).

Will taught political philosophy at Michigan State University and the University of Toronto and he taught at Harvard University in 1995 and again in 1998, but he is most recognized as columnist, author, and commentator.