Bill Kristol

Infobox Celebrity
name=William Kristol

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birth_date=birth date and age|1952|12|23
birth_place=New York City, NY, U.S.
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religion= Jewish
occupation=Publisher, Author, Columnist, Analyst, Commentator
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spouse=Susan Scheinberg
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children=3

William Kristol (born December 23, 1952 in New York City) is an American political analyst and commentator. He is the founder and editor of the political magazine "The Weekly Standard", a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel, and an Op-Ed columnist for the "New York Times".

Kristol is associated with a number of conservatively aligned think tanks: he was chairman of the New Citizenship Project from 1997 to 2005, he cofounded the neoconservative Project for the New American Century (PNAC) in 1997 with Robert Kagan, he is a member of the board of trustees for the free-market Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and he is a member of the Policy Advisory Board for the neoconservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. Kristol has also been an attendee at Bilderberg Group conferences.

Biography

Kristol was born into a Jewish family, his father Irving Kristol, one of the founders of the neoconservative movement, and his mother Gertrude Himmelfarb, a scholar of Victorian era literature. He graduated in 1970 from The Collegiate School, a preparatory school for boys located in Manhattan.

In 1973, Kristol received a B.A. from Harvard, graduating "magna cum laude" in three years. In 1976, he worked as deputy issues director for Patrick Moynihan's New York Democratic primary campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. Kristol received a Ph.D. in government, also from Harvard, in 1979. During his first year of graduate school, Kristol shared a room with a fellow government doctoral candidate Alan Keyes, whose unsuccessful 1988 Maryland Senatorial campaign against Paul Sarbanes Kristol would later run in.

Kristol is married to Susan Scheinberg.

Career

Kristol is the son of Irving Kristol, who served as the managing editor of Commentary magazine and is considered by some as the father of neoconservatism. After teaching political philosophy and American politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Kristol went to work in government in 1985, serving as chief of staff to Secretary of Education William Bennett during the Reagan Administration, and then as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle under the first Bush Administration. "The New Republic" dubbed Kristol "Dan Quayle's brain" upon being appointed the Vice President's chief of staff.

He served as chairman of the Project for the Republican Future from 1993 to 1994, and as the director of the Bradley Project at the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee in 1993. Kristol first made his mark as leader of the Project for the Republican Future, a conservative think tank, and rose to fame as a conservative opinion maker during the battle over the Clinton health care plan.

In the first of what would become legendary strategy memos circulated among Republican policymakers, Kristol said the party should "kill," not amend or compromise on, the Clinton health care plan. The success of the Clinton proposal, he warned, would “re-legitimize middle-class dependence for ‘security’ on government spending and regulation,” and “revive ... the Democrats, as the generous protector of middle-class interests.” Kristol's memo immediately became important in uniting Republicans behind total opposition to Clinton's reform plan. A later memo advocated the phrase "There is no health care crisis," which Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole used in his response to Clinton's 1994 State of the Union address.

In 1994, after Republicans gained a majority in the House and began to institute the Contract with America, Kristol said, "The fact that government is no longer going to be so generous with taxpayers' money may be Scrooge-like, but it strikes me as rather responsible behavior. For too many years, some liberals have felt they were doing good by generously spending taxpayers' money. Now Americans, want to take a much harder look at what really does good and what does harm."cite news |first=Richard| last=Lacayo| title= Down on the Downtrodden |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982006,00.html |publisher="Time Magazine" |date=December 19 1994 |accessdate=2007-07-22 ]

He currently serves as a foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain's presidential campaign. [cite news |first=William |last=Strobel |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=What would President McCain's foreign policy be? |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/104/story/27096.html |work= |publisher=McClatchy Washington Bureau |date=2008-02-08 |accessdate=2008-02-10 ]

Media commentator

After the Republican sweep of both houses of Congress in 1994, Kristol established, along with conservative John Podhoretz and with financing from Rupert Murdoch, the conservative periodical "The Weekly Standard." Kristol is currently editor of "The Weekly Standard."

He is currently a visiting professor at Harvard University, where he is teaching a course in the school's Government Department with Professor Harvey Mansfield entitled "The Mirror of Princes" on Xenophon, a Greek philosopher and soldier known for his writings on the history of his own times, the sayings of Socrates, and the life of Greece. Kristol also taught a course entitled "Can America Be Governed?" at the Kennedy School of Government. In addition to his role as a political contributor on Fox News, Kristol was for a time a semi-regular guest on the now cancelled "World News Tonight" on Sky News. He is also a patron of the British think tank the Henry Jackson Society, based at the University of Cambridge.

Kristol is interviewed in "Why We Fight", a 2005 documentary film by Eugene Jarecki on the military-industrial complex in the modern United States.

On December 29, 2007, the "New York Times" announced that Kristol would write a weekly column for its Op-Ed page beginning on January 7, 2008.cite news |first=William| last=Kristol| title= The Times Adds an Op-Ed Columnist |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/business/30kristol.html?em&ex=1199250000&en=823d53cc20230c14&ei=5087%0A |publisher="New York Times" |date=December 28 2007 |accessdate=2007-12-31 ] He had previously worked as a columnist for "Time" during 2007. [cite news |first=John| last=Koblin| title= Kristol, Krauthammer Are Out of Time |url=http://www.observer.com/2007/kristol-krauthammer-are-out-time |publisher=New York Observer |date=December 18 2007 |accessdate=2008-01-16 ]

Political views

Kristol was "perhaps the most outspoken supporter of the Iraq War". [Dana Milbank, Homo Politicus, Chapter 12, pg 254] On September 18, 2002, he declared that a war in Iraq "could have terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East." A day later, he said Saddam Hussein was "past the finish line" in developing nuclear weapons. On February 20, 2003, he said of Saddam: "He's got weapons of mass destruction.... Look, if we free the people of Iraq we will be respected in the Arab world." On March 1, 2003 -- 18 days before the invasion of Iraq -- Kristol dismissed the possibility of sectarian conflict afterward. He also said, "Very few wars in American history were prepared better or more thoroughly than this one by this president." He maintained that the war would cost $100 billion to $200 billion, but this was also largely inaccurate, as the cost is now about half a trillion dollars. On March 5, 2003, Kristol said, "We'll be vindicated when we discover the weapons of mass destruction."

In 2003, just as the Iraq War was starting, Kristol appeared on the National Public Radio show "Fresh Air" and made the following statement: "There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular." [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1215563 William Kristol : NPR ] ] Kristol also wrote a book "The War Over Iraq" with Lawrence Kaplan before the Iraq War and stated that: "The United States may need to occupy Iraq for some time. Though U.N., European and Arab forces will, as in Afghanistan, contribute troops, the principal responsibility will doubtless fall to the country that liberates Baghdad. According to one estimate, initially as many as 75,000 troops may be required to police the war's aftermath, at a cost of $16 billion a year. As other countries' forces arrive, and as Iraq rebuilds its economy and political system, that force could probably be drawn down to several thousand soldiers after a year or two." [The War Over Iraq at 98.] These analyses have proven hugely inaccurate: the war in Iraq costs approximately $12 billion a month, and American forces there number about 150,000. However, Kristol has not always fallen in line behind the Bush administration, and has on occasion criticized George W. Bush for not being conservative enough. In 2004, he wrote an op-ed strongly criticizing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A132-2004Dec14.html The Defense Secretary We Have (washingtonpost.com) ] ] He was also the first of many conservatives to publicly oppose Bush's second U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers. He said of Miers: "I'm disappointed, depressed, and demoralized. [...] It is very hard to avoid the conclusion that President Bush flinched from a fight on constitutional philosophy. Miers is undoubtedly a decent and competent person. But her selection will unavoidably be judged as reflecting a combination of cronyism and capitulation on the part of the president."

He has also been a vocal supporter of the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon, stating that the war is "our war too," referring to the United States. He continues to back the Iraq war, and favors imposing sanctions on Iran, and suggested in June of 2006 that, "we might consider countering this act of Iranian aggression with a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Why wait?" [cite news|url=http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/433fwbvs.asp|title=It's Our War, Bush should go to Jerusalem--and the U.S. should confront Iran |publisher=Weekly Standard|date=2006-07-24|first=William|last=Kristol|accessdate=2006-12-14]

Criticism

* On April 26 2004, conservative political commentator, and former presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan, wrote "as John Kerry backs partial-birth abortion, quotas, raising taxes, homosexual unions, liberals on the Supreme Court and has a voting record to the left of Teddy Kennedy, how can Kristol prefer him to other conservatives? Answer: War and Israel." [http://www.theamericancause.org/patgoingback.htm]

*In 2005, the web-based progressive research center Media Matters criticized Kristol for praising President George W. Bush's second inaugural address without disclosing his role as a consultant to the writing of the speech. Kristol praised the speech in his role as a regular political contributor during Fox's coverage of the address, as well as in a "Weekly Standard" article, without disclosing his involvement in the speech either time. [cite news | url=http://mediamatters.org/items/200501240006|title=Kristol, Krauthammer lauded Bush inauguration speech without disclosing their role as consultants |publisher=Media Matters for America|date=2005-01-24|first=|last=|accessdate=2006-12-14]

*On January 2 2007, progressive political journalist David Corn of the self-described "the flagship of the left", [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CNEFRE/ Publisher's description] on Amazon.com page about "The Nation". Accessed 27 June 2006.] "The Nation", posted a list of Kristol's pre-Iraq war statements "about the justification for the war, the costs of the war, the planning for the war, and the consequences of the war." [cite news|url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=153112|title=Kristol Clear at Time|publisher=The Nation|date=2007-01-01|first=|last=|accessdate=2007-07-19] Corn concluded that "Kristol displayed little judgment or expertise ... [I] n an effectively functioning market of opinion-trading, Kristol's views would be relegated to the bargain basement."

*On January 28, 2008, on Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show", comedian Jon Stewart quipped "Oh Bill Kristol, are you ever right?", alluding to inaccurate predictions that Kristol has made about American domestic and foreign policy, including the Iraq war. [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/24/jon-stewart-oh-bill-kr_n_83007.html Jon Stewart: "Oh, Bill Kristol, Are You Ever Right?"] , Huffington Post, January 24, 2008]

*On March 17, 2008, Kristol was criticized for poor journalism due to his reliance upon an unreliable news source. On August 9, 2007, Newsmax freelance reporter Jim Davis reported that Barack Obama was in attendance on July 22, 2007 during a controversial sermon giving by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in South Chicago, Obama's place of worship. [ [http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml Obama's Church: Cauldron of Division ] ] The claim that Obama was in attendance for this particular sermon was repeated by Newsmax as fact again on March 16, 2008. [ [http://newsmax.com/kessler/Obama_hate_America_sermon/2008/03/16/80870.html Newsmax.com - Obama Attended Hate America Sermon ] ] Kristol relied upon the erroneous NewsMax articles in his op-ed article in the "New York Times" on March 17, 2008. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/opinion/17kristol.html?ref=opinion Generation Obama? Perhaps Not. - New York Times ] ] This prompted the following retraction and apology by Kristol later in the day, "In this column, I cite a report that Sen. Obama had attended services at Trinity Church on July 22, 2007. The Obama campaign has provided information showing that Sen. Obama did not attend Trinity that day. I regret the error." [ [http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/03/17/bill-kristol-new-york-times-hack/ Bill Kristol, New York Times Hack, UPDATE - Political Machine ] ]

References

Books

* Johnson, Haynes and David Broder, David. "The System: the American way of politics at the breaking point". Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1996.
* "Current Biography Yearbook", 1997.
*Nina Easton, "Gang of Five", Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Bibliography

*"The Weekly Standard: A Reader: 1995-2005" (Harper Perennial, 2006). ISBN 0-06-088285-9
*"War Over Iraq: Saddam’s Tyranny And America’s Mission" (Co-author Lawrence Kaplan) (Encounter Books, 2003). ISBN 1-893554-69-4
*"Bush v. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary" (Co-editor E.J. Dionne) (Brookings Institution Press, 2001). ISBN 0-8157-0107-1
*"Homosexuality and American Public Life" (Introduction by Kristol, Editor Christopher Wolfe) (Spence Publishing Company, 1999). ISBN 978-1890626235

External links

* [http://www.weeklystandard.com/aboutus/bio_kristol.asp Biography] at "The Weekly Standard"
* [http://www.newamericancentury.org/williamkristolbio.htm Biography] from the Project for the New American Century
* [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/williamkristol/index.html Columnist profile] , "The New York Times"
* [http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=175746-2&highlight=ellsberg Discussion on the Iraq war] with Daniel Ellsberg on C-SPAN
* [http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=258 Recipient profile of The New Citizenship Project at www.mediatransparency.org.]