Robert D. Novak was born Feb. 26, 1931, in Joliet, IL. His first newspaper
jobs were as a reporter for the Joliet (Ill.) Herald News and the Champaign-Urbana
(Ill.) Courier, where he worked while attending the University of Illinois
(1948-1952).
Following service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Novak joined the
staff of the Associated Press, where he worked in the bureaus in Omaha, Lincoln,
Indianapolis and later Washington D.C., where he covered Congress.
In 1958, Novak left the AP for a position in the Washington bureau of The Wall
Street Journal as the Senate as correspondent and political reporter, becoming
chief congressional correspondent for the Journal in 1961.
On May 15, 1963, Robert Novak teamed up with Rowland Evans, then congressional
corespondent for the New York Herald Tribune, to write the political column
"Inside Report." One of the longest running syndicate columns in the nation,
it is distributed by Creators Syndicate to more than 300 newspapers nationwide.
After 30 years on "Inside Report" on May 15, 1993 Rowland Evans retired from
the column, which Novak is now writing 3 times a week.
"Inside Report" is noted for its rapidly moving dateline and its hard-hitting
analysis of national and international developments. The Chicago Sun-Times has
been the home newspaper to the column since 1966.
In the course of his career as a columnist, Novak has crisscrossed the country
numerous times the test grass roots sentiment for local campaigns and national
convention. He has traveled around the globe to report wars, revolutions and
international conferences and to interview leaders in every part of the world
his 1978 trip to China included an exclusive interview with Deng Xiaoping thatd the way for normalization of the US-Chinese relations.
With Evans, Novak produces the biweekly newsletter "Evans-Novak Political Report."
Novak, writing alone and teamed with Evans, has contributed to most of the nation’s
periodicals, and he is currently a roving editor of Reader’s Digest.
Novak has also co-authored the following books with Evans: Lyndon B. Johnson: The
Exercise of Power, a political biography of President Johnson; Nixon in the White
House: The Frustration of Power, a comprehensive study of the first two and one-half
years of the Nixon administration; and The Reagan Revolution, an analysis of Ronald
Reagan’s blueprint to transform the U.S. government.
An esteemed television personality as well, Novak can be seen on Cable News Network’s
weekly "Evans and Novak" interview program. He also appears on and serves as
co-executive producer of CNN’s political roundtable "Capital Gang." He is an
occasional co-host on CNN’s "Crossfire" program and often appears as an interviewer
on NBC’s "Meet the Press."
Novak was a Radford Visiting Professor of Journalism at Baylor University in 1987.
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