Andrea Mitchell

Andrea Mitchell Speaker Biography

Andrea Mitchell is the Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News, a position she has held since November 1994.  She reports on evolving foreign policy issues in the United States and abroad for all NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today and on both CNBC and MSNBC.

In addition to reporting on a variety of foreign affairs issues in 2004, Mitchell also covered the 2004 presidential campaign for NBC News and was a regular panelist on MSNBC’s Hardball.  She was the first reporter to break the story that democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry had chosen Sen. John Edwards as his vice presidential running mate.

Mitchell’s first book, Talking Back, (September 2005) is a memoir about her experiences as one of the first women to cover five presidents, congress and foreign policy.

In 2005, Mitchell received the prestigious Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and in 2004, the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) honored Mitchell with the Leonard Zeidenberg Award for her contribution to the protection of First Amendment Freedoms.

Mitchell’s extensive and varied reports include a series of exclusive interviews over the years with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Her unprecedented access resulted in a one-hour documentary on Cuba that aired in December 2003. Throughout 2002 and 2003, Mitchell covered the United Nations debate leading up to the Iraq war and provided detailed reports on the questions surrounding pre-war intelligence and weapons of mass destruction.  As a longtime analyst of the intelligence community, Mitchell has reported on Osama Bin Ladin and his Al Qaeda network for Nightly News with Tom Brokaw since 1996.  Her past assignments for NBC have included traveling to North Korea, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Bosnia, Kosovo, Pakistan and Haiti.

As one of NBC News’ top political correspondents, Mitchell also hosted MSNBC’s The Mitchell Report, NBC News’ election year broadcast of record, throughout the Decision 2000 campaign.  On her program, Mitchell interviewed newsmakers both in Washington, D.C. and on the campaign trail.  In addition, Mitchell was the lead NBC News correspondent covering Hillary Rodham Clinton’s race for the Senate in 2000.

Prior to being named Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Mitchell had been NBC News’ Chief White House Correspondent, a position she assumed after covering Bill Clinton from the New Hampshire primary through the entire 1992 presidential campaign.

From 1988-1992, Mitchell served as Chief Congressional Correspondent.  During that time, she played a major role in reporting on the budget, the savings and loan bailout, the Clarence Thomas hearings and other legislative issues.  She also served as a regular political analyst on Today.

Mitchell first covered the White House for NBC News from 1981-1988, during both of Ronald Reagan’s terms as President.  She reported on a variety of noteworthy stories, including arms control, the budget, tax reform and the Iran-contra scandal, and traveled extensively with President Reagan to summits with Mikhail Gorbachev and other world leaders.

Over the years, Mitchell has appeared on Meet the Press as a panelist and substitute host.  An acclaimed political reporter, she has also covered every presidential election since 1972.  In fact, during the 1988 Republican National Convention, she beat both the competition and presidential candidate George Bush with the announcement that Bush had chosen Dan Quayle to be his running mate.  She was also a panelist in the final Bush-Dukakis presidential debate.

Mitchell joined NBC News in 1978 as a general correspondent based in Washington, D.C.  In 1979, she was named NBC News’ Energy Correspondent.  In that capacity, she reported on the energy crisis and the Three Mile Island nuclear incident.  Before joining NBC, she was a correspondent for WDVM-TV (then WTOP), the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C.  From 1967-1976, she was a broadcast journalist for KYW Radio and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

A native of New York, Mitchell received a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where she currently serves as a Trustee, a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Annenberg School Advisory Board.

Mitchell is married to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and resides in Washington. D.C.