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Photo: Mike Minehan

Columnist, The Washington Post

American Academy Distinguished Visitor - Class of Spring 2007


Richard Cohen has been a columnist at the Washington Post since 1968. His syndicated op-ed column appears biweekly and covers a variety of political topics, ranging from state elections to national affairs and international relations. He has notably covered every US presidential campaign since 1968. In 1973, Cohen was one of two reporters to break the story of the investigation of former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, who later became the second Vice President to resign from office. Cohen’s insight into the subject then led to the publication of the book A Heartbeat Away: The Investigation and Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew (Viking, 1974). He has received the Sigma Delta Chi Award, the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Award, and has four times received an Honorable Mention from the Pulitzer Board, all for his investigative reporting. Cohen earned his BA from New York University, and later studied at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

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