George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos is ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent and host ABC's preeminent Sunday morning political affairs program, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

As Chief Washington Correspondent, Stephanopoulos oversees the network's coverage of presidential and Congressional politics and reports on political and policy stories for all ABC News platforms, including "World News with Charles Gibson," "Nightline," "Good Morning America" and ABC News' digital properties, including ABCNews.com and ABC News Now.

(Fred Watkins/ABC)

In his role as anchor of "This Week" Stephanopoulos has interviewed President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, as well as other key members of the Obama administration.

During the previous administration, he interviewed every key member of the Bush administration, including President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and throughout the 2008 presidential race he routinely interviewed the candidates in studio and on the trail.

He also regularly interviews newsmakers from both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as prominent political leaders and governors, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Stephanopoulos has conducted several exclusive interviews with international leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in April 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.

During the buildup to the war with Iraq, he traveled to Paris to conduct an exclusive interview with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, which generated headlines around the world. He anchored the program from Doha, Qatar during the war, conducting an interview with then Commander of U.S. Central Command General Tommy Franks.

On the 50th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice, Stephanopoulos anchored the program from South Korea, near the demilitarized zone. In April 2005, he traveled to Rome to anchor "This Week" from St. Peter's Square, providing in-depth and comprehensive coverage of Pope John Paul II's death and the gathering of Cardinals.

"This Week with George Stephanopoulos" has been honored with two Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from USC Annenberg for its On the Trail series in 2006 and 2008.

The "On the Trail" segments take anchor George Stephanopoulos out of the studio to join candidates on the campaign trail, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the campaigns and each candidate while illustrating the driving issues in each race. The series focused on several heated Senate races during the 2006 Midterm elections, and picked up again in 2008 to spotlight more than 14 presidential contenders.

During the 2008 primary election cycle, Stephanopoulos interviewed every major Republican and Democratic candidate, and conducted multiple interviews with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., then-Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

In August 2007 Stephanopoulos moderated separate debates for the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates in Des Moines, Ia., the only two Sunday morning debates of the primary cycle. Stephanopoulos also moderated a Democratic debate with ABC News' Charles Gibson in Philadelphia in April 2008.

During the 2004 presidential election, Stephanopoulos also conducted several interviews On the Trail with presidential candidates, including Senator John Kerry, Senator John Edwards and former Governor Howard Dean. He was widely praised for his role as moderator of the first Democratic Presidential Debate in Columbia, South Carolina. In August 2007, he once again moderated two 2008 presidential debates in Iowa, one Democratic and one Republican.

In July 2003, Stephanopoulos made Sunday morning television history with his joint interview of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer, the first time any sitting Supreme Court justice participated in a Sunday morning television interview.

The "This Week" program's multi-faceted and flexible format also offers:

--A panel discussion featuring a mix of journalists and policy and opinion makers, with free-flowing exchanges between Mr. Stephanopoulos, Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, George Will, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Paul Krugman and other ABC News correspondents and contributors.

--The In Memoriam segment, featuring important figures who passed away the week prior, also including soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

--The Sunday Funnies with a few highlights from the late-night comedy shows, usually political in nature. "This Week" continues to build its audience through expanding its presence on the web. As part of "This Week's" evolving growth, the program introduced several new and unique features:

--"The Green Room," a continuation of the round table discussion featuring each Sunday's round tablers in the green room for more on what transpired on-air and more opinions and analysis.

--Stephanopoulos' "George's Bottom Line" blog on ABCNews.com, offering breaking news reporting and analysis throughout the day.

--Stephanopoulos continues his reporting and analysis on Twitter. With more than 560,000 "followers" to date in May 2009, he has acquired more followers than any other ABC News personality. In April 2009, National Journal.com reported that Mr. Stephanopoulos had "rated the maximum 'clout' score" on Twitter, and is among the most "influential" Twitter users in Washington.

--Stephanopoulos' public "fan" page on Facebook, with links to his blogs and photos of "This Week" guests, and his personal "friend" page, where he has reached the maximum number of friends allowable on the social networking site.

The depth and variety of Stephanopoulos' interviews on "This Week" have generated significant accolades for the show, including from the Chicago Tribune, which said he has created the "most challenging, fluid and entertaining Sunday-morning show, far outdoing his rivals in both concept and content." In May 2008 the New York Times lauded Stephanopoulos and "This Week" for the broadcast's "high-profile interviews and aggressive bookings."

Over more than a decade at ABC News, Stephanopoulos has played a pivotal role in the network's coverage of breaking news stories. In spring 2005, he reported from Rome and contributed to ABC News' duPont Award-winning coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II. Following the explosion of the Columbia shuttle, Stephanopoulos anchored a two-hour special edition of "This Week" on Feb. 2, 2003. And on Sept. 11, 2001, he was one of the first reporters on the scene at Ground Zero.

Stephanopoulos was named Chief Washington Correspondent in December 2005 and began anchoring "This Week" in September 2002. Previously, he was an ABC News correspondent, reporting on a wide variety of political, domestic and international stories for "This Week," "World News Tonight," "Good Morning America" and other ABC News programs and special event broadcasts. Stephanopoulos joined ABC News in 1997 as a news analyst for "This Week."

Prior to joining ABC News, Stephanopoulos served in the Clinton administration as the senior adviser to the president for policy and strategy. He is the author of "All Too Human," a No. 1 New York Times best-seller on President Clinton's first term and the 1992 and 1996 Clinton/Gore campaigns.

Stephanopoulos received his Master's degree in theology from Balliol College, Oxford University, England, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude in political science.

Stephanopoulos and his wife, Alexandra Wentworth, live in Washington, D.C., with their two daughters.