Jake Tapper

Jake Tapper was named ABC News' senior White House correspondent on November 5, 2008 -- the day after the 2008 presidential election. For an unprecedented three years in... Read More »

Jake Tapper was named ABC News' senior White House correspondent on November 5, 2008 -- the day after the 2008 presidential election. For an unprecedented three years in a row, the White House Correspondents' Association has awarded him the prestigious Merriman Smith Award for presidential coverage under deadline pressure. He was a key part of the ABC News coverage of the inauguration of President Obama that was awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story.

Tapper contributes regularly to "Good Morning America," "Nightline", and "World News with Diane Sawyer." He also files regularly for ABC's digital properties, maintaining a popular blog, Political Punch and hosting a weekly digital show for ABC News/Yahoo! News. He has written two books and is working on a third, "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor," about the life and death of a U.S. combat outpost in Afghanistan, to be published by Little, Brown & Co. in November 2012.

In addition to having anchored for World News and Good Morning America weekend editions and Nightline, Tapper is a frequent substitute host of "This Week" and served as interim host for much of 2010, scoring the first TV interview with CIA director Leon Panetta, as well as exclusives with Vice President Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, retired Gen. Colin Powell, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, in addition to interviews with other newsmakers such as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

As senior White House correspondent, Tapper has interviewed President Obama several times. Prior to his assignment at the White House, Tapper was ABC News' national/senior political correspondent based in the network's Washington, D.C. bureau. He contributed a report to a broadcast of "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" that won the 2005 Edward R. Murrow award for best network newscast. As ABC News' lead reporter covering the 2008 presidential election, he received recognition for both breaking stories and even-handedness. Traveling from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina and beyond, Tapper interviewed both Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as well as other White House hopefuls including former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Since joining ABC News in July 2003, Tapper has reported on a wide range of stories, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the debate over Terri Schiavo, and the war in Iraq, including a stint in the ABC News' Baghdad bureau.

During the 2004 Presidential election, Tapper reported on charges by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth against Sen. John Kerry and also manned the Fact Check desk during ABC News' debate and election coverage. He also reported on the California gubernatorial recall and the election of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Tapper has also frequently reported on American popular culture, including interviews for ABC News with Sarah Silverman, Larry David, Judd Apatow, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Tiger Woods, Nicolette Sheridan, Donald Trump, Don Cheadle, Michael Moore, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Prior to joining ABC News, he was the national correspondent for Salon.com, writing on a range of topics from political profiles to the accounting scandal at Enron. Tapper was also a columnist for "TALK Magazine" and has written for "The New Yorker," "The New York Times Magazine," "The Washington Post," "The Los Angeles Times" and "The Weekly Standard," among many other publications. He was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and his work was included in "The Best American Political Writing 2002."

Tapper was the correspondent for a series of VH1 news specials in 2002. Throughout 2001, Tapper was host of the CNN news talk show, "Take Five." He has served as a substitute host on a number of CNN programs including "The Point," "Crossfire" and "The Spin Room." He was the Washington correspondent for Salon.com from March 1999 to March 2002, where his writing received widespread critical acclaim. His reports about Enron were nominated for a 2002 Columbia University School of Journalism online journalism award.

Tapper is the author of "Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency," (Little, Brown) a look at the Florida recount that the Washington Post called "lively," the Chicago Tribune called "a churning effusion well worth reading" and the Daily Telegraph called "engrossing." He also wrote "Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story" (St. Martin's Press) that was excerpted by the Washington Post Magazine. His political comic strip, "Capitol Hell" appeared in "Roll Call" from 1994 until 2003. He began his journalism career as a senior writer for "Washington City Paper" and won a Society of Professional Journalists award for his work there. Tapper is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Jennifer and two children.