Chris Matthews

He has been married to the award winning news anchor Kathleen Matthews since 1980. The couple has three children.

He suffers from diabetes and other health problems.

He was born to Herb Matthews and his wife Mary Teresa. His father worked as a court reporter which instilled in him a love for reporting. He was very close to his grandfather, a Democratic Committeeman who encouraged the young boy’s interest in politics.

He attended La Salle College High School, a small Catholic high school, before moving on to the College of Holy Cross from where he graduated in 1967.

He decided to do graduate work in economics at the University of North Carolina. However, he dropped out in 1968.

After leaving university in 1968 he served in the United States Peace Corps in Swaziland till 1970 as a trade development adviser.

He wanted to enter into politics and ran for the Congress representing northeastern Philadelphia. He lost and had to look for another job. Thereafter he joined the United States Capitol Police as an officer.

When Jimmy Carter became the president of the U.S., he became a speechwriter for him. Following this he worked on the staffs of the Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie.

His close dealings with high profile politicians made him very knowledgeable about politics and rekindled his political ambitions. In 1981 he was made the chief of staff to speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill. He is credited to have had a great influence on the speaker.

He entered print journalism after O’Neill’s retirement in 1987. He joined ‘The San Francisco Examiner’ as a columnist the same year and worked there for the next 13 years till 2000. He worked as the nationally syndicated columnist for ‘The San Francisco Chronicle’ for two years after this.

He is the author of the book ‘Hardball: How Politics Is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game’, which became a best-selling book and led to the creation of the highly successful television show, ‘Hardball with Chris Matthews’.