Andrea Mitchell Biography

Andrea Mitchell is NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, an hour of political news and interviews with top newsmakers.

In addition to politics, Mitchell covers foreign policy, intelligence and national security issues, including the diplomacy of Secretary of State John Kerry, for all NBC News and MSNBC properties.

Mitchell led NBC News’ and MSNBC’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign from its launch in April 2015. Mitchell’s more than 20 years of reporting on the Clintons earned her the unofficial role as “dean of the Clinton press corps” as she traveled with the campaign across the country, anchoring her eponymous show and reporting for network broadcasts TODAY and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt at campaign rallies, debates and both conventions. Mitchell regularly appears on Meet the Press as a panelist and substitute host.

In 2015, Mitchell was recognized by New York Women in Communications with the prestigious Matrix Award for her excellence in broadcast.

In September 2005, Mitchell authored Talking Back, a memoir about her experiences as one of the first women to cover five presidents, congress and foreign policy. That year, Mitchell also received the prestigious Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2004, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) honored Mitchell with the Leonard Zeidenberg Award for her contribution to the protection of First Amendment freedoms.

Mitchell has closely covered the complex U.S.-Cuban relationship for decades and led network coverage of the historic thaw with the island country, beginning in 2014. Her extensive and varied reports include a series of exclusive interviews over the years with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Her unprecedented access resulted in a one-hour documentary on Cuba in December 2003. Throughout 2002 and 2003, Mitchell covered the United Nations debate leading up to the Iraq war and provided detailed reports on the questions surrounding pre-war intelligence and weapons of mass destruction. As a longtime analyst of the intelligence community, Mitchell’s past assignments for NBC News have included exclusive reports from North Korea, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Bosnia, Kosovo, Pakistan and Haiti.

From 1988 to 1992, Mitchell served as the network’s chief congressional correspondent, playing a major role in reporting on the budget, the savings and loan bailout, the Clarence Thomas hearings and other legislative issues. She also served as a regular political analyst on “TODAY” and was a panelist in the second Bush-Dukakis presidential debate.

Mitchell joined NBC News in 1978 as a general correspondent based in Washington, D.C. In 1979, she was named NBC News energy correspondent. In that capacity, she reported on the energy crisis and the Three Mile Island nuclear incident. Before joining NBC News, she was a correspondent for WDVM-TV (then WTOP), the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. From 1967-1976, she was a broadcast journalist for KYW Radio and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

A native of New York, Mitchell received a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania where she is a past Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and currently services as Chair of the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts and Sciences. She also serves on the board of the America’s Promise Alliance and is a member of the Gridiron Club.

Mitchell is married to former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and resides in Washington, D.C.