Brit Hume

He was born in Washington, D.C., the son of George Graham Hume and Virginia Powell (née Minnigerode) Hume. Through his father, Hume is of part Scottish descent, descended from George Home (1698–1760), a son of the 10th Baron of Wedderburn exiled to Virginia in the aftermath of the First Jacobite Rebellion.{{cite web |title=Hume, Alexander Britton |url=http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hume/tree/2/42307.htm |website=Ancestry.Com |publisher=RootsWeb |access-date=December 12, 2014}}

Hume attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., at the same time as Al Gore and graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1965.{{cite magazine |last1=Vogel |first1=Chris |title=Prep Schools of the Power Brokers |url=http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/work-education/education/prep-schools-of-the-power-brokers/ |access-date=December 12, 2014 |magazine=Washingtonian |date=May 1, 2006}}{{cite magazine |last1=Bedard |first1=Paul |title=Brit Hume: I stumbled into journalism |url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/brit-hume-i-stumbled-into-journalism/article/2505358 |access-date=December 12, 2014 |magazine=Washington Examiner |date=August 19, 2012}}

Hume worked first for The Hartford Times newspaper company, and later for United Press International and the newspaper Baltimore Evening Sun.{{cite web |title=Brit Hume |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/brit-hume/bio/#s=h-l |publisher=Fox News Network |access-date=December 12, 2014}} He then worked for syndicated columnist Jack Anderson from 1970 to 1972.

In 1971, Grossman Publishers published Hume's first book, Death and the mines: Rebellion and murder in the United Mine Workers, a work revolving around complicity of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, coal companies, and the United Mine Workers union resulting in the mistreatment of average miners.{{cite book |title=Death and the mines: Rebellion and murder in the United Mine Workers by Brit Hume |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1052040.Death_and_the_mines_ |website=goodreads.com |date=1971 |publisher=Goodreads, Inc. (Grossman Publishing) |isbn=978-0-670-26105-5 |access-date=16 June 2020}}{{cite web |title=Hume, a young investigative journalist who works with Washington columnist Jack Anderson, propounds the coal conspiracy... |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/brit-hume/death-and-the-mines-rebellion-and-murder-in-the/ |website=kirkusreviews.com |publisher=Kirkus Media LLC. |access-date=16 June 2020}}

Hume reported a story for Anderson's column "Washington Merry-Go-Round" that after ITT Corporation had contributed $400,000 to the 1972 Republican National Convention, President Richard Nixon's Department of Justice settled the antitrust case against ITT. Anderson published a series of classified documents indicating the Nixon administration, contrary to its public pronouncements, had favored Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After the revelations, Anderson and his staff, including Hume and his family, were briefly surveilled by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1972.

{{cite news |title=Documents Show CIA Spying on Journalists, Including Brit Hume and Michael Getler |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003602243 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Associated Press (via Editor & Publisher) |date=June 21, 2007 |access-date=December 31, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116124253/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003602243 |archive-date=January 16, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/family_jewels_wilderotter.pdf |title=CIA Matters (memorandum for the file) |access-date=January 1, 2009 |first1=James A. |last1=Wilderotter |author-link= |author-link2=William Colby |first2=William |last2=Colby |first3=John |last3=Warner |date=January 3, 1975 |page=2 }}

The agents observed his family going about its daily business. The documents were revealed during President Gerald Ford's administration by congressional hearings and as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and the so-called 'Family Jewels' revelations.

In 1973, Hume became Washington editor of MORE magazine, a press criticism journal, and in 1974 Doubleday published his second book, Inside Story.{{cite book |title=Inside Story by Brit Hume |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5403298-inside-story |website=goodreads.com |date=1974 |publisher=Goodreads, Inc. (Doubleday) |isbn=978-0-385-06526-9 |access-date=16 June 2020}}

In 1973, Hume started working for ABC News as a consultant, and in 1976, he was offered a job as a correspondent, covering the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for 11 years. In 1979, Hume earned television's first Academy Award nomination for his work on The Killing Ground for ABC's Close-Up documentary program.{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Michael |title=Encyclopedia of Television News |year=1999 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=1573561088 |page=100 }}

Hume was assigned to report on Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, and George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. In 1989, he became ABC's chief White House correspondent, covering the administrations of Presidents Bush and Bill Clinton and working closely with ABC anchors Peter Jennings and Charlie Gibson.

{{cite news |first=Howard |last=Kurtz |author-link=Howard Kurtz |title=Moving to the Right: Brit Hume's Path Took Him from Liberal Outsider to the Low-Key Voice of Conservatism on Fox News |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/18/AR2006041801943_pf.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=C01 |date=April 19, 2006 |access-date=December 31, 2008}}

File:Brit Hume and Chuck Norris.jpg pose in the George Bush Presidential Library Classroom in College Station, Texas, at President Bush's 80th birthday celebration]]

In 1996, Hume left ABC for the Fox News Network for which his wife had recently become chief of the Washington bureau. At his last news conference as ABC's chief White House correspondent, President Clinton told him, "I think all of us think you have done an extraordinary, professional job under Republican and Democratic administrations alike." Hume became Fox News's Washington managing editor.

{{see also|Special Report (Fox News program)}}

After he began at Fox News, Hume was in discussions about starting a Washington-based television news program for the 6 p.m. timeslot. The Lewinsky scandal began during January 1998, and Hume's wife told him the story was so well known that he should start the show immediately. Special Report with Brit Hume debuted that evening in that timeslot.

Hume said of the start of his time at Fox that "we made some progress and developed some audience and the Lewinsky scandal brought a lot of interest and the 2000 election brought a lot of interest, but what really did it was the Florida recount – that was tremendous for us because the people who were worried about how that would come out wanted some place where they could trust the coverage, people who were conservatives or Republicans or neither but worried. And we really made an effort to cover that story well. And that built our audience."{{Cite web|url=https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/brit-hume/|title=Brit Hume on Fox News and Our Media Landscape Today}}

The show was the number one cable news program in the 6:00 p.m. Eastern timeslot for several years.{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010503271.html|title=Bret Baier, the Successor to Brit Hume on Fox's 'Special Report'|date=January 6, 2009|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}

In July 2008, it was announced that Hume would retire as anchor of Special Report at the end of the year, but he would remain on Fox News in a different role.{{cite news |last1=Kurtz |first1=Howard |title=Fox's Hume to Step Down |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/15/AR2008071501744.html |access-date=December 12, 2014 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=July 16, 2008}} On December 23, 2008, he hosted his final episode as anchor of Special Report, announcing that Bret Baier, then the chief White House correspondent for Fox News, would be his replacement. Hume also announced that he would remain with Fox News as a senior political analyst and regular panelist for the program Fox News Sunday.

On January 3, 2010, Hume on Fox News Sunday, advised embattled golfer Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity to attempt to end his problems. Hume's comments were made after the revelation of Woods' habitual adultery and the resulting deterioration of his relationship with his family.{{cite magazine|last1=Pulliam Bailey|first1=Sarah|date=January 7, 2010|title=Q & A: Brit Hume The former news anchor for Fox News explains why he told Tiger Woods to turn to the Christian faith.|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/11-42.0.html|magazine=Christianity Today|access-date=December 12, 2014}}

On September 6, 2016, Hume was named the anchor of On the Record after that show's longtime anchor, Greta Van Susteren, abruptly left Fox News. He served as the program's anchor through the end of the 2016 elections.{{cite web |first=Howard |last=Kurtz |title=Van Susteren leaving Fox News, Hume tapped as replacement through election |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/van-susteren-leaving-fox-news-hume-tapped-as-replacement-through-election/ |publisher=foxnews.com |date=September 6, 2016}} Hume's first show as host of On the Record drew 2.4 million viewers, a double-digit increase over Van Susteren's average viewing audience in 2016.[https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/295020-hume-doubles-van-susteren-audience-on-first-night/ Hume increases Van Susteren audience on first night] (The Hill) On November 4, 2016, it was announced that Tucker Carlson would host a new show in the former On the Record timeslot from November 14, 2016.

In late May 2020, Hume criticized presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for wearing a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic while suggesting that it was positive for President Donald Trump to not wear one.{{Cite news|date=2020|title=Trump, who spent Memorial Day without a face mask, shares tweet criticizing Biden for wearing one|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/26/trump-biden-mask-coronavirus/}} In September 2020, Hume claimed that Biden was "senile".{{Cite web|title=Geriatrics experts say Brit Hume's claim that Joe Biden is 'senile' is wrong|url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/oct/01/brit-hume/geriatrics-experts-say-brit-humes-claim-joe-biden-/|access-date=2020-10-03|website=PolitiFact|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Wilstein|first=Matt|date=2020-09-30|title=Fox News Pundit Brit Hume: Joe Biden Is 'Senile' but Could Still Beat Trump in Debate|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-pundit-brit-hume-joe-biden-is-senile-but-could-still-beat-trump-in-debate|access-date=2020-10-03}}

Hume joined Chris Wallace, Juan Williams, and Dana Perino in Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum's election night coverage of the 2020 United States Presidential election on Fox News.

Hume is a conservative,{{cite news|last1=Kurtz|first1=Howard|title=Bret Baier, the Successor to Brit Hume on Fox's 'Special Report'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010503271.html|accessdate=December 12, 2014 |newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 6, 2009}} remarking in 2006: "Sure, I'm a conservative, no doubt about it. But I would ask people to look at the work."

Hume is divorced from his first wife, Clare Jacobs Stoner.{{cite news|title=The Kim Hume interview|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2006/09/25/the-kim-hume-interview|access-date=December 12, 2014|work=Washington Whispers|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|date=September 25, 2006}} Their son, Sandy Hume, was a reporter for the newspaper The Hill and first publicized the story of the failed 1997 political attempt to replace Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. In February 1998, Sandy Hume died by suicide. The National Press Club honors his memory with its annual Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism.{{cite news|last1=Tapper|first1=Jake|title=Suicide Watch|url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/14598/suicide-watch|access-date=December 12, 2014|newspaper=Washington City Paper|date=March 13, 1998}} Hume was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Churchhttps://www.c-span.org/video/?c986433/user-clip-clip-qa-brit-hume {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} and has said that he committed his life to Jesus Christ "in a way that was very meaningful" to him in the aftermath of his son's suicide in 1998.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010403101.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Brit Hume's off message: Have faith, Tiger Woods, as long as it's Christianity |first=Tom|last=Shales|date=January 5, 2010|access-date=April 27, 2010}}

Brit Hume's daughter,{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/brithume/status/1040738144222633986|website=Twitter|title=This, from my daughter, on how the letter for Kavanaugh came about.|date=September 14, 2018|first1=Brit|last1=Hume|df=mdy-all}} Virginia Hume (born 1965{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/virginiahume/status/961475262830477312|website=Twitter|title=Yeah, well try being born in 1965.|date=February 8, 2018|first1=Virginia|last1=Hume|df=mdy-all}}), was a contributor to The Weekly Standard.{{cite news|last=Hume|first=Virginia|date=September 14, 2018|title=About That Letter From Women in Support of Brett Kavanaugh|url=https://www.weeklystandard.com/virginia-hume/about-that-letter-from-women-in-support-of-brett-kavanaugh|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180917182929/https://www.weeklystandard.com/virginia-hume/about-that-letter-from-women-in-support-of-brett-kavanaugh|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 17, 2018|work=The Weekly Standard|access-date=September 16, 2018}} She worked for 25 years as a public relations, political communications and traditional marketing professional.{{cite web|url=http://www.boylepublicaffairs.com/our-team|title=Virginia Hume|website=boylepublicaffairs.com|publisher=Boyle Public Affairs, LLC|access-date=September 16, 2018}} Her political experience includes serving as a deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee in 1996.{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?virginiahume|title=Virginia Hume on the C-SPAN Networks|date=December 14, 1996|website=c-span.org|publisher=C-SPAN|access-date=September 16, 2018}}

In 1993, Hume married Kim Schiller, who was a Fox News vice president and Washington bureau chief before she retired in 2006.

• Emmy Award for coverage of the Gulf War (1991){{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?205575-1/qa-brit-hume|title=Q&A – Brit Hume|date=July 20, 2008|publisher=C-SPAN|access-date=November 19, 2014}}

{{cite news|url=http://rmcnews.org/?p=22|title=Brit Hume to be 2014 Speaker|last1=Wallace|first1=Lena|date=May 26, 2014|work=The Yellow Jacket|access-date=December 12, 2014|publisher=Randolph-Macon College|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213040047/http://rmcnews.org/?p=22|archive-date=December 13, 2014|url-status=dead}}

• American Journalism Review "Best in the Business" award (twice) for White House coverage{{Cite web|url=https://bicentennial.virginia.edu/alexander-brit-hume|title=Alexander (Brit) Hume {{!}} University of Virginia Bicentennial|website=bicentennial.virginia.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-06-08}}
• Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism (2003){{Cite news|url=http://nationalpress.org/awards/sol-taishoff-award-for-excellence-in-broadcast-journalism/|title=Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism - National Press Foundation|work=National Press Foundation|access-date=2018-06-08|language=en-US}}
• Writer of The Killing Ground (film), which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature{{Citation|last1=Priestley|first1=Tom|title=The Killing Ground|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079402/|last2=Singer|first2=Steve|others=Brit Hume|access-date=2018-06-08}}

• {{Cite book |title=Death and the Mines – Rebellion and Murder in the United Mine Workers |url=https://archive.org/details/deathminesrebell0000hume |access-date=December 31, 2008 |year=1971 |publisher=Grossman |location=New York |isbn=0-670-26105-X |url-access=registration }}
• {{Cite book |title=Inside Story |url=https://archive.org/details/insidestory00hume |access-date=December 31, 2008 |edition=1st |year=1974 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, New York |isbn=0-385-06526-4 }} (a memoir of his days working with columnist Jack Anderson)

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{{Commons category|Brit Hume}}

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{{s-bef | before = Sam Donaldson}}

{{s-ttl | title = ABC News Chief White House Correspondent | years = 1989–1996}}

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Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American Episcopalians

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:American Episcopalians

Category:American male journalists

Category:American people of Scottish descent

Category:American political commentators

Category:American political writers

Category:American television news anchors

Category:American television reporters and correspondents

Category:Emmy Award winners

Category:Fox News people

Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.

Category:American opinion journalists

Category:St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni

Category:University of Virginia alumni

Category:The Weekly Standard people