Elizabeth Brenner Drew '57

Alumnae Achievement Awards 1973

Writer, TV Journalist

Elizabeth Brenner Drew, born in Cincinnati, received a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College in 1957. After graduating, she worked as a secretary at a small publishing company in Boston that produced Writer magazine. After a few years, Drew moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for the Congressional Quarterly for five years.

Drew began to work as a freelance writer and was the Washington editor of Atlantic Monthly from 1967 to 1973. After the death of her first husband, J. Patterson Drew in 1970, Drew was the host of a PBS program Thirty Minutes With… for three years. She also appeared regularly on Agronsky and Company and Meet the Press. Drew’s involvement in government and politics is reflected in her writing. She was a writer for the New Yorker magazine and a commentator for Washington Post-Newsweek stations until 1992. She has also published a number of books on the subject of politics, including Fear and Loathing in George W. Bush’s Washington (2004), Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why (2000), and On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency (1995).

Drew has received numerous accolades for her achievements in journalism, such as the Society of Magazine Writers Award for Excellence, 1970; the Ladies’ Home Journal Woman of the Year in Communications Award, 1977; and the Missouri Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, 1979. She has also received several honorary doctorates from distinguished universities.

Elizabeth Brenner Drew has continued her work as an author. She and her husband, David Webster, now reside in Washington.