Bill Press

{{about|a talk show host|astrophysicist|William H. Press|Olympic wrestler|William J. Press}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Bill Press

| image = Bill Press in 2011.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = William H. Press

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|4|8|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.

| residence = Inverness, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| office = Chair of the California Democratic Party

| term_start = April 3, 1993

| term_end = February 22, 1996

| predecessor = Phil Angelides

| successor = Art Torres

| party = Democratic

| education = Salesianum School
Niagara University (BA)
University of Fribourg (STB)

| occupation = Talk radio host, political commentator, author

| website =

}}

William H. Press (born April 8, 1940){{cite web|last=Lindsay|first=Greg|title=So What Do You Do, Bill Press?|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/So-What-Do-You-Do-Bill-Press-a2011.html|work=Media Bistro|access-date=July 27, 2012|date=July 20, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407062725/http://www.mediabistro.com/So-What-Do-You-Do-Bill-Press-a2011.html|archive-date=April 7, 2014}} is an American talk radio host, podcaster, liberal pundit and author.{{cite news|last=Press|first=Bill|title=Shame, Shame on the 2-Faced State GOP : Riordan's friends, once fighters for the right to endorse in nonpartisan contests, get a court to muzzle Democrats for Woo.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-03-me-42635-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 3, 1993}} He was chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996, and is a senior political contributor on CNN.{{Cite web |title=Bill Press WSB Exclusive Speaker |url=https://www.wsb.com/speakers/bill-press/ |access-date=8 November 2022 |website=Washington Speakers Bureau}} He hosts The Bill Press Pod podcast, and his weekly column is syndicated by Tribune Content Agency.{{cite web |title=Bill Press articles |url=https://tribunecontentagency.com/premium-content/opinion/liberal/bill-press/ |website=Tribune Content Agency |access-date=9 October 2018}}{{Cite web |title=Bill Press Pods - Home |url=https://billpresspods.com/ |access-date=8 November 2022 |website=Bill Press Pods}}

Education

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, and raised in Delaware City, Delaware,{{cite web |last=Deitz |first=Corey |title=A Profile of Radio Personality Bill Press |url=http://radio.about.com/od/radiotalkshowhosts/p/A-Profile-Of-Radio-Personality-Bill-Press.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=July 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802053722/http://radio.about.com/od/radiotalkshowhosts/p/A-Profile-Of-Radio-Personality-Bill-Press.htm |archive-date=2012-08-02 |url-status=dead }} Press was educated at Salesianum School, a private Roman Catholic secondary school in Wilmington, in 1958,{{cite web |title=Campaign Leadership |url=http://faculty.salesianum.org/takinghold/leadership.asp |publisher=Salesianum School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501090516/http://faculty.salesianum.org/takinghold/leadership.asp |archive-date=May 1, 2014 |url-status=dead }} followed by Niagara University from which he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, and the University of Fribourg in which he gained a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree.{{cite web |title=Bill Press |url=https://tribunecontentagency.com/premium-content/opinion/liberal/bill-press/ |publisher=Tribune Content Agency |access-date=October 9, 2018}}

Life and career

File:Bill press 5190178.jpg

Press is a longtime resident of Inverness, California, having moved there in 1970.[http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/PROFILE-Bill-Press-Washington-pundit-repairs-2756057.php PROFILE / Bill Press / Washington pundit repairs to Marin for dose of reality / Press cherishes Inverness home] Retrieved 2016-12-19.[http://ptreyesbooks.com/events/bill-press Bill Press | Point Reyes Books] Retrieved 2016-12-19. He resides in Washington, D.C.{{cite web |title=Bill Press |url=https://gspm.gwu.edu/bill-press |access-date=19 July 2022 |website=Graduate School of Political Management |publisher=George Washington University |archive-date=25 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725060905/https://gspm.gwu.edu/bill-press |url-status=dead }}

Press started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and KCOP-TV. He has worked as a political commentator for CNN and MSNBC. He is best known for co-hosting CNN's Spin Room opposite Tucker Carlson, and Crossfire and MSNBC's Buchanan and Press.

Since May 2005, Press has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. He also contributes blogs to The Hill. In January 2012, Press filled in for Keith Olbermann on Current TV's coverage of the 2012 Florida Republican primary.{{cite news |title=Bill Press Hosts Current TV's Florida Primary Coverage On Countdown |author=Tommy Christopher |url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-press-hosts-current-tvs-florida-primary-coverage-on-countdown/ |newspaper=Mediaite |date=January 31, 2012 |access-date=February 3, 2012}}

=In politics=

Press was the chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996.{{cite news|last1=Stall|first1=Bill|last2=Decker|first2=Cathleen|title=Youth Movement Stirs Up State Democratic Party: Convention: Commentator Bill Press of Los Angeles is elected new chairman.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-04-mn-19174-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 4, 1993}}{{cite news|last=Decker|first=Cathleen|title=Press Quits as State Democrat Party Head|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-23-mn-39199-story.html|access-date=July 26, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=February 23, 1996}}

He previously served in different appointed positions such as a chief of staff to Republican California state senator Peter Behr (1971–73), and as director of the California Office of Planning and Research under Democratic governor Jerry Brown (1975–79).

Press was an early backer of Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, hosting Sanders and his advisors for strategy sessions at his home before the campaign began.{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/bernie-sanders-2016-inside-213692/ | title=Inside Bernie's Wild Ride | website=Politico | date=March 2016 }}

=Radio talk show=

Since September 2005, Press has been hosting a daily liberal talk radio program, The Bill Press Show. It is heard on satellite radio, streamed live from the show's website, and available from the show's YouTube channel.

It was formerly broadcast on terrestrial radio affiliates in the United States live from 6-9 AM ET. Originally syndicated by Jones Radio, the radio show was syndicated by Dial Global until 2017. On March 5, 2012, the show was announced to be simulcast on Current TV alongside The Stephanie Miller Show as part of morning programming.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2012/03/current-tv-to-enter-am-news-competition-with-radios-bill-press-and-stephanie-miller-239473/|title=Current TV To Enter AM News Competition With Radio's Bill Press And Stephanie Miller|date=March 5, 2012|author=David Lieberman|publisher=Deadline New York}} As a result of Current TV becoming Al Jazeera America, The Bill Press Show moved to Free Speech TV, where it stayed until its move to The Young Turks Network in 2016. As part of the move to the Turks, terrestrial syndication of the program was dropped in January 2017 (except for WCPT-AM Chicago).{{cite news|last1=Reynolds|first1=Nick|title=A Progressive Talk Station Goes Off Air. No, It's Not A Conspiracy.|url=http://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/a-progressive-talk-station-goes-off-air-no-it-s/article_edf3db36-d846-11e6-8305-5796b8655f3f.html|access-date=January 13, 2017|work=Ithaca Times|date=January 11, 2017}}

=Religion=

Press was steeped in Catholicism from an early age. He was an altar boy and took vows of obedience, poverty and chastity. He describes his young self as a "soldier in God's army".{{cite web |last=Press |first=Bill |title=Confessions of a former celibate |url=http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/03/28/column.billpress/index.html |publisher=Tribune Media Services |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031220173328/http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/03/28/column.billpress/index.html |archive-date=December 20, 2003}}

Works

Eyewitness : A California Perspective, 1988. {{ISBN|0-939061-01-5}}
Spin This: All the Ways We Don't Tell the Truth, with a foreword by Bill Maher, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7434-4267-9}}
Bush Must Go!- The Top Ten Reasons Why George Bush Doesn't Deserve a Second Term, 2004. {{ISBN|0-525-94840-6}}
How The Republicans Stole Christmas: The Republican Party's Declared Monopoly on Religion and What Democrats Can Do to Take it Back, 2005. {{ISBN|0-385-51605-3}}
How The Republicans Stole Religion: Why the Religious Right is Wrong about Faith & Politics and What We Can Do to Make it Right, Doubleday, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-385-51605-1}}
Trainwreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too Soon), Wiley, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-470-18240-6}}
{{cite book |title=Toxic Talk: How the Radical Right Has Poisoned America's Airwaves |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |year=2010 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-60629-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/toxictalkhowradi00pres }}
{{cite book |title=The Obama Hate Machine |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-64164-1 |year=2012 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312641641 }}
{{cite book |title=Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down |publisher=Threshold Editions |location=New York |isbn=9781476792613 |oclc=913336872 |year=2016}}
{{cite book |title=From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |location=New York |isbn=9781250147158 |year=2018}}
{{cite book |title=Trump Must Go: The Top 100 Reasons to Dump Trump (And One to Keep Him) |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |location=New York |isbn=9781250306470 |year=2018}}