Bob Beckel
Bob Beckel, one of Washington's leading political analysts, is co-host of
CNN's political debate program Crossfire Sunday.
The program airs on Sundays
from 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. (ET). He brings a veteran's perspective from his years in
the White House, on Capitol Hill and leading dozens of election campaigns,
blending wry stories of life in the political trenches with a strategist's
concise analysis.
After a political baptism as a college student in Robert Kennedy's 1968
campaign, a tour of duty in the Peace Corps and a successful stint heading up his
own consulting firm, Beckel joined the government in 1977. As the deputy
assistant secretary of state, he steered the controversial Panama Canal Treaties
through Congress. He moved to the White House to head an Administration effort
to press Congress into passing the Mideast and Salt II treaties.
He resumed his career as a political consultant until Walter Mondale asked
him to manage his 1984 campaign for the presidency. As national campaign
manager, he oversaw the successful race for the Democratic nomination. He is
credited with pulling together the campaign after its defeat in New Hampshire and
became known as the man who wrapped "Where's the Beef?" around Gary Hart so
effectively.
Beckel is chairman of Beckel Cowan, a Cassidy Company. Beckel Cowan is the
successor to Bob Beckel & Associates, a company he formed in 1985 as an
innovative consulting firm specializing in grassroots campaigns for some of this
country's leading corporations, trade associations and nonprofit organizations.
In addition to its grassroots activities, Beckel Cowan is a political analysis
and public affairs company which monitors trends and developing issues in
American politics for its clients.
Beckel is also a national political commentator, appearing regularly on
Crossfire Sunday. He has also made frequent appearances on CBS This Morning, CBS
News, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, and as a guest on Face the Nation,
Meet the Press, and Nightline. For the two years it aired, he was the moderator
of Fox Television's weekly public affairs program, Off the Record. He was also a
co-host of Mutual Radio's Buchanan & Company. During the 1992 presidential
campaign, he appeared regularly on CBS This Morning, and was on-air consultant
for WUSA News in Washington, D.C. During the 1988 presidential campaign, he was
an on-air consultant for ABC News. Beckel also penned a syndicated column for
the Los Angeles Times for both the 1988 and 1992 election cycles. In addition,
he served as an adjunct professor, teaching presidential politics at Georgetown
University and the University of Maryland's graduate school of public affairs.
He holds a B.A. from Wagner College in Staten Island, NY.