As a reporter, editor, editorial writer and columnist at The Washington Post, Ruth Marcus has developed a keen understanding of the folklores and byways of the national political scene. Marcus writes with the practiced...
As a reporter, editor, editorial writer and columnist at The Washington Post, Ruth Marcus has developed a keen understanding of the folklores and byways of the national political scene. Marcus writes with the practiced eye of a veteran reporter, the incisive analysis of a lawyer, and the amused affection of someone who loves the political game even as she perceives—and pierces—its artifice.
Marcus has covered every institution in Washington, from the Supreme Court to the White House to Congress; she has reported on every major Washington story of the last two decades, from contested Supreme Court nominations to contested elections, from hard-fought political campaigns to a hard-fought presidential impeachment. She can dissect a Supreme Court opinion; unearth—and explain—a fundraising scandal; and write, always in a down-to-earth manner, about the details of the federal budget or the intricacies of health care reform.
A boots-on-the-ground columnist who likes to report first and opine later, Marcus is happiest out of the office, whether on the campaign trail or at a congressional hearing. Although she leans to the left, she is not captive to any party or orthodoxy. As much as Marcus captures for readers the inner workings of Washington and its money culture, she writes with equal ease about social issues and the real world concerns of modern parents. She does not shy away from the fact that she is a woman but does not let that define her columns; she brings gender to the table when it is relevant to the discussion.
Marcus was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and raised in Livingston, N.J., where the local passion tended toward shopping rather than politics. She studied history at Yale, and became hooked on journalism from the moment she received her first assignment from the college newspaper, a story about where to buy firewood. She took a brief detour to graduate from Harvard Law School, where her writing ability somehow survived the footnote-intensive process of serving on the Harvard Law Review.
Marcus joined The Post as a staff writer in 1984 and has covered the Justice Department, the Supreme Court, the White House, and national politics, with a particular expertise in campaign finance and lobbying. After serving as a deputy national editor, a stint that included supervising coverage of the messy aftermath of the 2000 election, Marcus became a member of the Post editorial board in 2003, where she discovered what no one else who knew her doubted: that she was full of sharp opinions and not shy about expressing them. Her occasional op-ed columns developed into a weekly column in late 2005. In 2007, after her first full year of column-writing, Marcus was a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. The Pulitzer board cited "her intelligent and incisive commentary on a range of subjects, using a voice that can be serious or playful."
Marcus met her husband in the classic Washington way: She was covering the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas and he was working for a senator on the Judiciary Committee. They have two daughters who are, for the most part, tolerant about being used as column fodder and sometimes even read what their mother writes.
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 23, 2011
House Republicans voted to increase the number of abortions, raise federal health care costs and swell the welfare rolls. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 18, 2011
Procrastination is rarely a cost-free strategy. That is true when it comes to fixing Social Security -- as much as the Obama administration and, even more forcefully, its allies on the left may wish to believe otherwise. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 16, 2011
Failure of political leadership knows no party. The past few days have offered an unfortunate demonstration of this sad maxim. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 11, 2011
Just in case his wife doesn't take Sarah Palin up on her offer, I'll say it: Rick Santorum is a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 10, 2011
American parents owe a debt of gratitude to MTV for its series of public service announcements illustrating the dangers of illegal drugs, excessive drinking and casual sex otherwise known as "Skins." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 4, 2011
I've been bristling recently at conservatives' dual hijacking: morality and the Constitution as the domain of small-government conservatives. I'd like them back. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigFeb 2, 2011
The man once known as Governor Moonbeam sounded more like Governor Laser Beam when it came to addressing California's fiscal crisis. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigJan 28, 2011
The president talks the talk about fiscal responsibility. But the evidence suggests he's not willing to spend the political capital to translate that talk into action. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigJan 24, 2011
Discretionary spending, the part of the federal budget that is not on autopilot and is subject to annual appropriations, generally constitutes less than 40 percent of federal spending. Take out defense spending and that share drops to well under 20 percent. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigJan 19, 2011
I come from a family where the "joke," if you came home with a 97 on a math test, was to ask what happened to the other three points. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigJan 13, 2011
Blood libel is a term with a specific and terrible history. It refers to the scurrilous accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered Christian children to use their blood to prepare Passover matzo. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )
Ruth Marcus / TruthdigJan 12, 2011
"High Capacity Magazines When ten rounds isn't enough," the Internet site offers When, exactly, would that be? Enough for what? . Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )
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