Richard Coolidge
Jan. 10, 2014 — -- Richard Coolidge is a producer for ABC News, based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. Working his way up from the desk assistant ranks, Coolidge has been with the company for twenty-five years, ten of which he spent working for "World News Tonight" under both Peter Jennings and Charles Gibson.
In his current assignment, Coolidge leads content development for the digital video show "Power Players" that publishes on Yahoo!, featuring interviews with newsmakers, key political players and cultural icons by top ABC News political correspondents.
Prior to his move into the digital space, Coolidge worked with current chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz covering the Pentagon and the State Department. With Raddatz he made numerous trips covering U.S. military operations to Iraq and Afghanistan, including producing a report where she was the only journalist to fly in an F-15 fighter jet during a combat mission over Afghanistan. He also accompanied Raddatz on multiple visits to Pakistan and Yemen, reporting on terrorism issues.
Coolidge has worked alongside many ABC News correspondents spanning all ABC News shows, including helping produce a Sam Donaldson "Primetime Live," report on Scott O'Grady – the airman who was shot down over Bosnia and rescued six days later by U.S. forces.
With John McWethy, Coolidge got his start covering global news events – from accompanying peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, to following UN forces in Haiti, to reporting on a potential missile shield on a remote Alaskan island. He was with McWethy when he was the first television journalist to fly in a B-2 bomber.
More recently, he worked with senior White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, covering U.S. military operations in Iraq and making several trips to Darfur during the ethnic cleansing. He also produced Karl's trip – the first by a broadcast journalist – aboard a U-2 reconnaissance plane, flying more than 70,000 feet above the earth.
Coolidge has covered the White House over the years during the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. He has accompanied presidents, vice presidents and the secretaries of defense and state on trips around the world, including stops in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. With "Nightline" anchor Dan Harris, Coolidge was part of a two-person team that accompanied UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on a trip to Myanmar in 2008 following the devastating cyclone.
As part ABC News’ political coverage, Coolidge has had key roles over the last decade. In 2004, he covered John Kerry extensively during the primary campaign. During the 2008 primaries, he reported on numerous campaigns, including those of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Governor Mike Huckabee, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. During the general election, he covered the John McCain campaign. In 2012, Coolidge traveled to both the Democratic and Republican conventions, producing digital video content for ABC News and Yahoo! He supervised ABC News' headquarters at the Romney election night headquarters in Boston.
Born outside of Boston, Mass., Coolidge went to college at Middlebury in Vermont, spending a year abroad in France. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.
