Chuck Todd

Early life and education

Todd was born on April 8, 1972, in Miami, Florida, the son of Lois Cheri (née Bernstein) and Stephen Randolph Todd. He is Jewish on his mother's side, and was raised Jewish. He graduated from Miami Killian Senior High School in Kendall, an unincorporated suburban community in greater Miami. Todd attended George Washington University from 1990 to 1994. He declared a major in political science and a minor in music, but never graduated.

Political campaigns

Before entering the world of political reporting and analysis, Todd earned practical political experience on initiative campaigns in Florida and various national campaigns based in Washington, D.C. While in college, Todd worked for the 1992 presidential campaign of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and later started working part-time at National Journal's The Hotline.

The Hotline

From 1992 until March 12, 2007, Todd worked for National Journal's The Hotline, where he was editor-in-chief for six years. As part of his position, Todd also co-hosted, with John Mercurio, the webcast series Hotline TV, consisting of a daily show lasting between three and seven minutes and a weekly show ranging between 20 and 30 minutes. He became a frequent guest on political discussion shows, such as Hardball with Chris Matthews and Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff.

NBC News

Tim Russert brought Todd to NBC from The Hotline in March 2007. He became NBC News’ political director at that time. After Russert's death, Todd was a candidate to replace him as the host of NBC's Meet the Press, but David Gregory was ultimately selected for the job. As NBC News Political Director, Todd often provides on-air political analysis on political discussion shows, including Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Meet the Press, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, and The Rachel Maddow Show and blogs for MSNBC.com at "First Read." He also does a weekly Question and Answer ("Q&A") session with users at Newsvine.

On December 18, 2008, NBC announced that Todd would succeed Gregory as NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, partnering with Savannah Guthrie on the news beat. He retained his title as NBC News Political Director and was also named Contributing Editor to Meet the Press. Todd was a focus of an August 2008 Los Angeles Times article paralleling Todd's rise to the rise of cable news networks in coverage of U.S. politics. The article noted the emergence of Todd's fans, deemed "Chuckolytes".

On July 6, 2009, former MSNBC television personality Dan Abrams launched a website service, Mediaite, reporting on media figures. The site ranks all TV-based journalists in America by influence. Todd ranked, as of October 2009, right before Mike Wallace as number five. Todd rose to number two as of December 21, 2011, but has since fallen to 90 as of January 9, 2013. On January 11, 2010, Todd became co-host, with Savannah Guthrie, of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC, airing weekday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET.

On August 14, 2014, NBC announced that Todd would take over as the host of Meet the Press beginning September 7, 2014. While remaining as NBC News political director, Todd left his role as chief White House correspondent as well as anchor of The Daily Rundown.

On July 23, 2015, MSNBC announced Todd would return to the network with a daily political show called MTP Daily, which airs weekdays at 5:00 p.m. ET. The show is an extension of Meet the Press and focuses on the 2016 presidential election. Todd will continue moderating Meet the Press.

On October 17, 2016, the Daily Caller published an article stating that Chuck Todd had hosted a dinner party for Hillary Clinton's communication's director Jennifer Palmieri. This information was discovered from the leaked Podesta emails which were published online by WikiLeaks. These emails also revealed a cozy relationship between mainstream journalists at the New York Times, MSNBC, and Politico.

On January 22, 2017, Todd stated “Alternative facts are not facts, they’re falsehoods", which soon became a meme to rally against "alternative facts" and "fake news."

Other professional ventures

Todd is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House. Published in 2014, the Chicago Tribune described the book as "richly sourced and deeply informed," while Publishers Weekly called it "an even-handed, concise, and thorough account." Todd is also co-author, with Sheldon Gawiser, of How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election, published in 2009.

Personal life

Todd resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Kristian Denny Todd, and their two children. She is a communications professional and co-founder of Maverick Strategies and Mail, which provides direct mail and consulting services for Democratic candidates and progressive causes. She was the spokesperson for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Senator Jim Webb in 2006.

Todd received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Marymount University in recognition of his work in journalism. Todd is a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers and of the Los Angeles Dodgers. As evidenced by numerous posts on his Twitter account, he is also an avid supporter of the Miami Hurricanes football team.

Todd is a congregant in the Reform congregation of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia.

Published works