Chris Matthews is a journalist, political commentator, and former host of Hardball with Chris Matthews, a nightly talk show. Matthews grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, graduated from Holy Cross in 1967, studied economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the Peace Corps in Africa from 1968 to 1970. Between 1970 and 1985, Matthews worked in various roles in politics and government, including being a press relationship officer and a presidential speech writer in Jimmy Carter’s administration. 

Matthews became the Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner in the late 1980s and as a full-time print journalist covered late 20^th century historical events, including the first all-races election in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Matthews television career began in 1994 as a host of a two-hour nightly program on Talking network, a NBC-owned station. In 1997, Hardball by Chris Matthews was launched, which notably had same “Hardball” name as his best-selling handbook on real-life politics published in 1988. The show is known for Matthews playing “hardball” with his guests routinely debating and pursuing a hard line of questioning.

Matthews, in addition, routinely appeared on both MSNBC and NBC television networks as a commentator on other programs and during key elections. In 2020 he retired from hosting Hardball by Chris Matthews on MSNBC. He is the author of these eight books:

1. Hardball: How Politics is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game (1988)
2. Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America (1996)
3. Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think (2001)
4. American: Beyond our Grandest Notions (2002)
5. Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success (2007)
6. Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero (2011)
7. Tip and The Gipper: When Politics Worked (2013)
8. Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit (2017)