Carl M. Cannon

Learn more about the author of readersdigest.com's Loose Cannon blog.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington Bureau Chief for Reader's Digest and a contributing editor for National Journal. Before joining Reader’s Digest in December 2007, he covered the White House for 15 years, first for The Baltimore Sun and then for National Journal. Before that, he worked for six newspapers over a 20-year span. He has covered every Presidential campaign and political convention since 1984. In 1999 he was honored for his White House coverage with the prestigious Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting of the Presidency. In 2006, he won the Aldo Beckman Award for excellence in Presidential reporting. Carl has participated in Presidency conferences at Princeton and the University of London. He has lectured on journalism and politics at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, and for numerous other academic audiences and business groups. He has been a regular contributor to National Public Radio, and wrote the Presidency column for George magazine. He is a coauthor of Boy Genius, a biography of White House aide Karl Rove, reissued earlier this year to reflect the 2004 elections. His other writings include The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War; a chapter for a Red and Blue Nation? Volume I: Characteristics and Causes of America's Polarized Politics (Brookings Institution, 2006); and Reagan's Disciple: George W. Bush's Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy (February 2008), which he coauthored with his father, acclaimed Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon. Carl has written for numerous magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, New Republic, Forbes, Brill's Content, Mother Jones, and The Weekly Standard. His January 2007 Atlantic Monthly cover story, “Why Presidents Lie,” was reprinted in Best American Political Writing, 2007.

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