John Avlon Profile
John Avlon is an American journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN and was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast from 2013 to 2018.
John Avlon Age
John Phillips Avlon is 50 years old as of 2023. He was born on 19th January 1973 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America. Furthermore, he celebrates his birthday on 19th January every year.
John Avlon Height
He stands at an average height of 5 feet 6 inches tall.
John Avlon Family
Avlon was born in 1973 to Dianne Alexander (Phillips) and John Jeffrey Avlon, a lawyer and real estate executive with companies in Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. Additionally, he is of Greek descent, and his grandparents were immigrants.
He was educated at Milton Academy, an independent preparatory school in Milton, Massachusetts. Moreover, John is a childhood friend and schoolmate of Matthew Pottinger. He earned his BA from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia University.
John Avlon Wife
Avlon is married to PBS Firing Line host and political commentator Margaret Hoover. Furthermore, she is the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover. They have a son Jack, born in 2013, and a daughter Toula Lou, born in 2015.
John Avlon Career
Avlon started his career as the youngest speechwriter for Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He was promoted to Chief Speechwriter and the Deputy Director of Policy. John prepared the mayor’s addresses for the State of the City (1999 through 2001), testimony to Congress on homeland security, and address to the United Nations General Assembly on counterterrorism.
He was also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Alvon is an advisory board member of the Citizens Union of New York, the Bronx Academy of Letters, and the Theodore Roosevelt Association. Avlon joined The Daily Beast in 2008 one month after its launch. Alvon worked his way up through the organization starting as a columnist and moving on to a political editor, executive editor, and then managing editor. In 2013 Avlon became editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast.
John Avlon Website
By September 2014 the website reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors; it was a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community. During Avlon’s leadership, The Daily Beast doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day and won over 17 awards for journalistic excellence.
In May 2018, Avlon announced his departure from The Daily Beast and moved to CNN as Senior Political Analyst and Anchor. Barry Diller, chairman, and senior executive of IAC, issued a statement shortly after Avlon announced his departure, “John Avlon has been a superb editorial leader of the Daily Beast. He’s built a formidable newsroom and a culture of excellence and decency.
John Avlon Television
Avlon has made appearances on a variety of television shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher, as well as on news programs on MSNBC, PBS, CNN, and C-SPAN. Avlon created and hosted the “Wingnut of the Week” segment on CNN.
Moreover, Syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker wrote that “Americans who are fed up with the Ann Coulter/Michael Moore school of debate and are looking for someone to articulate a common-sense middle path, may have found their voice in John Avlon.”Avlon first appeared on television in 2005 on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his book Independent Nation. He credits this debut with the launch of his TV career.
In June 2018, Avlon moved to CNN full-time as Senior Political Analyst making daily appearances on New Day, as well as guest anchoring for programs including State of America and Reliable Sources. His segment “Reality Check” on CNN’s New Day was referred to as “a standout, and a welcome feature on television in a current era lacking in reality-based news coverage.”
John Avlon Interviews
Digital news outlet Mediaite, in referring to Avlon’s New Day segment said, “Need a fascinating but unexpected perspective on the news of the day? John Avlon’s recurring segment “Reality Check” is a hit.” Avlon has been interviewed in several documentaries including HBO’s Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists, 2010’s Gerrymandering, and the forthcoming History Channel miniseries Washington.
In September 2021 CNN announced the debut of the digital series “Reality Check with John Avlon: Extremist Beat”, which will track the rise of extremist groups in America. Avlon hopes the series can contextualize the history and development of these types of movements within American history saying, “At the end of the day, a lot of these things riff off older conspiracies.
And I think by pulling out and drawing those connections, people can all of a sudden have perspective on what they may have been sucked into,” explaining “We add that additional layer that I think is a lot more than what you get just by the daily thrust and parry of the news and chronicling the shocking.
John Avlon Writing
Avlon has written numerous articles and essays. He wrote the Newsweek cover story: “Additionally, a 21st Century Statesman,” (February 28, 2011), about the actor, director, and activist George Clooney. It was based in part on Avlon’s trip accompanying Clooney to South Sudan to witness the referendum for independence from the North after two decades of civil war. His essay on New York, “The Resilient City”, written after the 9/11 attacks, was selected to conclude the anthology Empire City: New York Through the Centuries (2002).
Fred Siegel, the author of The Future Once Happened Here, praised it as “the single best essay written in the wake of 9/11.”In 2010, Avlon published Wingnuts: How the Baffling Fringe is Hijacking America about the evolution of fringe political movements and their inroads into mainstream American politics.
Bill Clinton commented: In April 2018 it was announced that Avlon was working on a book on Lincoln planned for release in 2020, focusing on the final five weeks of Lincoln’s life and “his determination to reunite the nation through a radical new vision of winning the war by also winning the peace.” Avlon’s book titled Lincoln and the Fight for Peace was released in February 2021.
John Avlon Book
Filmmaker Ken Burns called the book a, “Stunning accomplishment, and an essential reminder that the Civil War – the most important event in our country’s history – is very much part of who we are as a people and a nation today.” Additionally, author and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley says the book, “Brilliantly illuminates the enduring legacy of America’s greatest president.
With erudition and elegance, Avlon documents how Lincoln’s sage political wisdom has helped democracy flourish.” The New York Times said, “These are not unfamiliar tales to students of Lincoln, but Avlon makes the retelling affecting and powerful. At the same time, Avlon plays down the highly ideological Lincoln.”
John Avlon Salary
He has an estimated annual salary of $30,000 to $80,000 from his career at CNN News.
John Avlon Net Worth
Avlon has an estimated annual net worth of $ 2 million to $5 million earned from his career as a Senior Political Analyst.
John Avlon Social Media Platforms
Avlon is very active on his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages. He has 90.2k followers on Twitter, 13.5k followers on Instagram, and 5.9k followers on Facebook.