
Ron Elving
Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News, where he is frequently heard as a news analyst and writes regularly for NPR.org.
He is also a professorial lecturer and Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University, where he has also taught in the School of Communication. In 2016, he was honored with the University Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Appointment. He has also taught at George Mason and Georgetown.
He was previously the political editor for USA Today and for Congressional Quarterly. He has been published by the Brookings Institution and the American Political Science Association. He has contributed chapters on Obama and the media and on the media role in Congress to the academic studies Obama in Office 2011, and Rivals for Power, 2013. Ron's earlier book, Conflict and Compromise: How Congress Makes the Law, was published by Simon & Schuster and is also a Touchstone paperback.
During his tenure as manager of NPR's Washington desk from 1999 to 2014, the desk's reporters were awarded every major recognition available in radio journalism, including the Dirksen Award for Congressional Reporting and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2008, the American Political Science Association awarded NPR the Carey McWilliams Award "in recognition of a major contribution to the understanding of political science."
Ron came to Washington in 1984 as a Congressional Fellow with the American Political Science Association and worked for two years as a staff member in the House and Senate. Previously, he had been state capital bureau chief for The Milwaukee Journal.
He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and master's degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of California – Berkeley.
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Obama's ascent thrilled millions but also stirred a countermovement that is still on the march. His new memoir, A Promised Land, covers his rise through the second year of his presidency .
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Whatever the validity of Trump's claims about the past, current reality for millions of the unemployed is dire. With the virus still far from controlled, the economic climb could get steeper as well.
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Thanks to swift pacing and high production values, viewers got a compact and highly watchable two hours of political messaging each night. It was, in fact, remarkably slick.
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Just six months ago, Biden's campaign seemed all but over. But in the end, he had just enough connection, through his oft-mentioned ties to Obama and other key Democrats, to overcome his deficits.
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The president made his career on the belief that his positive attitude could shape his way in the world. The pandemic, the economic crisis and national protests aren't accommodating that approach.
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Anne Applebaum writes in Twilight of Democracy that heir to fears and hatreds, even advanced societies are straining under repeated blows: protracted war, economic disruptions, migration, a pandemic.
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We do need a holiday just now. And not just a moment of leisure but an occasion for unity, healing and hope.
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Issues of vanity aside, the mask has become an emblem of submission to experts, to officialdom — to Washington. By the same token, the refusal to wear a mask becomes another badge of defiance.
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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, is scheduled to come out next week and has already begun shipping.
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Statues and flags may not do physical harm to anyone or suppress anyone's vote. But they meant something to the people who put them up, and they have meaning for people who see them today.
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In the convention host cities of Milwaukee and Charlotte, people are wondering: As much as they wanted to host these events, is the price too high in terms of residents' exposure?
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Masks were in evidence when senators returned to work, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments remotely. But facewear appears out of fashion at the White House, at least for public events.