Paul Gigot
{{short description|American political analyst and journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Paul Gigot
| image = Paul Gigot in 2015.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Gigot in 2015
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|05|24}}
| birth_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Political analyst, journalist
| education = Dartmouth College (BA)
| spouse =
| children =
| awards = Pulitzer Prize (2000)
}}
Paul Anthony Gigot ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|iː|'|g|oʊ|}}; born May 24, 1955) is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning{{citation|title=2000 Pulitzer Prize Winners - COMMENTARY, Citation|website=The Pulitzer Prizes website|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/paul-gigot|access-date=2024-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816044836/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2000/commentary/|archive-date=2000-08-16|url-status=dead|quote=Awarded to Paul A. Gigot of The Wall Street Journal for his informative and insightful columns on politics and government.}} conservative political commentator and editor of the editorial pages for The Wall Street Journal. He is also the moderator of the public affairs television series Journal Editorial Report, a program reflecting the Journal{{'}}s editorial views which airs on Fox News Channel.
Early life and education
Paul Gigot was born in San Antonio, Texas, and he and his family moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, not long afterward. He is Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools for 12 years.{{cite news|last1=Gigot|first1=Paul A.|title=Packers part of growing up in Green Bay|url=http://archive.jsonline.com/sports/packers/115346939.html/|access-date=21 December 2017|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=5 February 2011}} He graduated from Abbot Pennings High School in De Pere, Wisconsin in 1973.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/topics/gigot/ |title=Paul Gigot at the Wisconsin Historical Society |publisher=Wisconsinhistory.org |access-date=2010-09-29}}
He graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1977,{{cite web|last1=McDougall|first1=Connie|title=Breakfast With Paul Gigot|url=http://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/spring2k3/breakfastwithgigot.html|publisher=Seattle Pacific University|access-date=9 January 2016|date=Spring 2003}} where he was editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth.{{cite news |last1=Russo |first1=Brad |title=Gigot '77 wins Pulitzer Prize for commentary |url=https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2000/04/gigot-77-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-commentary |access-date=14 December 2020 |publisher=The Dartmouth, Inc. |date=4 April 2000 |quote=Paul Gigot, Class of 1977 and former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary writing yesterday.}} He was a student of English professor and conservative columnist Jeffrey Hart.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Emily Esfahani |title=No Ordinary Joe |journal=Dartmouth Alumni Magazine |date=January 2018 |volume=112 |issue=3 |page=48 |url=https://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/no-ordinary-joe |access-date=14 December 2020 |quote=As Joe [Rago] was getting ready to graduate, Hart sent Joe’s cover letter and clips to his former student, Gigot, editor of the Journal’s editorial pages.}}
Career
Prior to becoming an editor at The Wall Street Journal, Gigot spent 14 years writing the column "Potomac Watch". His career at the Journal began in 1980, when he became a reporter covering Chicago, Illinois. Two years later he became the paper's Asia correspondent in Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong in 1984, Gigot was placed in charge of The Wall Street Journal Asia.{{Cite news |last=Greenberg |first=David |date=2001-08-11 |title=Paul A. Gigot |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2001/08/paul-a-gigot.html |access-date=2025-05-27 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}{{Cite web |date=2015-03-25 |title=Paul Gigot |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/paul-gigot |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}
From 1986 to 1987, Gigot served as a White House Fellow under President Ronald Reagan.{{Cite web |date=2006-05-23 |title=Paul Gigot Receives Wisconsin History Maker Award |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS514 |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |language=en}}
During the 1990s, he was a regular guest on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, appearing in the program's weekly political analysis segment, opposite Mark Shields, the regular liberal pundit and replaced David Gergen on the show.
In 2000, Gigot won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his weekly "Potomac Watch" column in The Wall Street Journal.{{citation|title=The 2000 Pulitzer Prizes|date=2000-04-10|url=http://www.nytimes.com/library/arts/041100pulitzer-index.html|website=The New York Times website|access-date=2024-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121202117/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/arts/041100pulitzer-index.html|archive-date=2024-11-21|url-status=dead|quote=In one column, Mr. Gigot concluded: "Only here could a man who lies under oath be equated with someone who tries to defend the value of that oath. The point is never, 'What's right?' but rather, 'Who won?' "}} In a column cited by the Pulitzer jury and highlighted by The New York Times as an example of his insightful conservative commentary, he examined the Clinton impeachment, writing "[a] president paranoid about his legacy even before the perjury scandal will now begin a campaign to make impeachment seem illegitimate", and remarking "[only in Washington] could a man who lies under oath be equated with someone who tries to defend the value of that oath."{{citation|author1-last=Gigot|author1-first=Paul A.|title=Hyde on His Mistakes -- and Ours|date=1999-02-12|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|publication-place=New York, NY, U.S.A.|page=A16|issn=0099-9660|via=The Pulitzer Prizes website|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2000/commentary/works/Potomac_Watch.html|access-date=2024-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010717010217/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2000/commentary/works/Potomac_Watch.html|archive-date=2001-07-17|url-status=dead|quote=This matters, because Mr. Clinton isn't about to let his impeachers alone. A president paranoid about his legacy even before the perjury scandal will now begin a campaign to make impeachment seem illegitimate. And he may succeed if Republicans allow him to spin the story by himself.}}
He became the Wall Street Journal{{'}}s vice president and editorial-page editor in 2001.{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/author/paul-gigot |quote=Paul Gigot is the editorial page editor and vice president of The Wall Street Journal, a position he has held since 2001.|title=Paul Gigot — Editor, editorial page at the Wall Street Journal }}
On 23 May 2006, he received the Wisconsin Historical Society's Lucius W. Neiman Award for Distinction in Journalism and Communications. Gigot, along with four others were also honored as a 2006 Wisconsin History Maker at the first annual History Makers Gala.{{Cite web |date=2006-05-23 |title=Paul Gigot Receives Wisconsin History Maker Award |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS514 |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |language=en}}
In December 2007, Gigot was elected to the Pulitzer Prize board.{{Cite web |last=E&P Staff |date=2007-12-07 |title=Paul Gigot Elected to Pulitzer Board |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/paul-gigot-elected-to-pulitzer-board,46832 |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Editor and Publisher |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Press |first=The Associated |date=2007-12-07 |title=WSJ editor Gigot elected to Pulitzer board |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/wsj160-editor-gigot-elected-pulitzer-156569/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}
Paul Gigot has been described{{By whom|date=May 2021}} as leading opposition to the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, via the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal.{{cite book|last1=Halperin|first1=Mark|last2=Heilemann|first2=John|title=Double Down: Game Change 2012|date=November 2013|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1101638705|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781594204401_0/page/137 137]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781594204401_0|url-access=registration|access-date=21 December 2017}}
In 2015, he was elected to succeed Danielle Allen as the chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.{{Cite web |last=O'Shea |first=Chris |date=2015-05-06 |title=Paul Gigot Named Pulitzer Chair |url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/paul-gigot-named-pulitzer-chair/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=E&P Staff |date=2015-05-04 |title=Paul Gigot of The Wall Street Journal Named New Pulitzer Prize Board Chair |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/paul-gigot-of-the-wall-street-journal-named-new-pulitzer-prize-board-chair,72710 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Editor and Publisher |language=en}}
In 2017, Gigot was alleged to have forced out junior colleague Mark Lasswell from The Wall Street Journal the previous summer, after Lasswell continued to publish op-eds critical of Donald Trump. Gigot refused to comment on the personnel change.{{cite news|last1=Gray|first1=Rosie|title=Conflict Over Trump Forces Out an Opinion Editor at The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/conflict-over-trump-forces-out-an-opinion-editor-at-the-wall-street-journal/516318/|access-date=21 December 2017|work=The Atlantic|date=10 February 2017}}
Under Gigot's tenure as editorial page editor and vice president{{when|reason= he has held these positions since 2001|date=January 2020}}, The Wall Street Journal's editorial page has been criticized by other media and its own reporters for what these critics perceive to be a pro-Trump stance.{{cite news|last1=Schwartz|first1=Jason|title=Murdoch-owned outlets bash Mueller, seemingly in unison|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/30/murdoch-fox-mueller-trump-244333|access-date=21 December 2017|agency=Politico|date=30 October 2017}}{{cite magazine|last1=Pompeo|first1=Joe|title="A Different Level of Crazy": Is Civil War Breaking Out in The Wall Street Journal Over the Editorial Board's Coverage of Mueller?|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/the-wall-street-journal-editorial-board-coverage-of-mueller|access-date=21 December 2017|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=1 November 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Salam|first1=Reihan|title=Why the Wall Street Journal Is Calling for Robert Mueller's Ouster|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/10/why_fox_news_and_the_wall_street_journal_s_editorial_page_are_calling_for.html|access-date=21 December 2017|work=Slate|date=31 October 2017}}
Gigot hosts the weekly cable show Journal Editorial Report on Fox News Channel.{{Cite web |title=The Journal Editorial Report |url=https://www.foxnews.com/shows/journal-editorial-report |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}
In 2022, Gigot received the Alexander Hamilton Award along with Cliff Asness, from the Manhattan Institute.{{Cite web |title=2022 Alexander Hamilton Awards: Asness and Gigot |url=https://manhattan.institute/article/2022-alexander-hamilton-awards-asness-and-gigot |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Manhattan Institute |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-05-04 |title=The intriguing guest list at the Manhattan Institute’s ‘springtime conservative prom’ |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/05/intriguing-guest-list-manhattan-institutes-springtime-conservative-prom/366502/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=City & State NY |language=en}}
Notes
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050422002207/http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pgigot/bio.html Biography of Gigot on Opinion Journal]
- [http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pgigot/?id=110006179 January 2005 editorial exhorting Republican policy leadership]
- {{IMDb name|id=1784436}}
- {{C-SPAN|1280}}
- [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/topics/gigot/ Gigot] at WisconsinHistory.org
{{PulitzerPrize Commentary 1976–2000}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gigot, Paul}}
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century Roman Catholics
Category:American male journalists
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American political writers
Category:American Roman Catholic writers
Category:Catholics from Wisconsin
Category:Dartmouth College alumni
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners
Category:The Wall Street Journal people