Thomas Oliphant

Thomas Oliphant is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and Washington columnist for The Boston Globe. He is the author of four books, including The Road to Camelot.

Al Franken says “Oliphant brings more to the table than anyone I know.” Madeline Albright called him “the Will Rogers of our times.” Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote that his book Praying for Gil Hodges was a “small masterpiece.”

Oliphant has been a frequent guest on television news programs, including "Nightline" on ABC-TV, "The NewsHour" with Jim Lehrer on PBS, "Face The Nation," the "Today" show, "Good Morning America" and "CBS This Morning." Oliphant was also a regular guest on "The Al Franken Show."

In 1968 Oliphant joined the Boston Globe. During his career with the newspaper, he served as its Washington correspondent and reported on 10 Presidential campaigns. He was one of three editors who managed The Globe's coverage of school desegregation in Boston, work which won a 1975 Pulitzer Prize. He also received a writing award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

In March 2005, Oliphant suffered a brain aneurysm. His account of the experience and his recovery appeared in The Globe on June 5, 2005. At the end of 2005, he was one of 32 Globe staff members who accepted a retirement buyout package from the New York Times Company, owner of The Globe.

Oliphant was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated in 1967 from Harvard University. He is married to CBS reporter Susan Spencer.

Articles by

Edwin

Grosvenor

Articles by this Author

Ellsberg's “Magic Potion” to Stop the War, Summer 2021 | Vol. 65, No. 5

As a young reporter for the Boston Globe, I stumbled onto the existence of the Pentagon Papers.

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