Robert Draper

For other people named Robert Draper, see Robert Draper (disambiguation).

Robert Draper
Robert Draper in 2007
Born	(1959-11-15) November 15, 1959
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin
Genre	Non-fiction
Notable works	Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush; Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives

Robert Draper (born November 15, 1959) is a freelance writer, a correspondent for GQ and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Previously, he worked for Texas Monthly, where he first became acquainted with the Bush political family.

Background and education

Robert Draper attended Westchester High School in Houston, Texas. He is the grandson of Leon Jaworski, prosecutor during the Watergate scandal, segregation trials, and Nazi war crimes, which is said to have influenced Draper's writing about the use and abuse of power. Draper was active in high school debate. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, writing for the university newspaper The Daily Texan.

Career

After graduation from Texas at Austin, Draper wrote for the Austin Chronicle.

Journalism

In 1991, Draper joined the staff of the Texas Monthly He later became a contributing writer to National Geographic, GQ and The New York Times Magazine. Draper wrote an article on the Kushite pharaohs of Egypt for the February 2008 issue of National Geographic, as well as an article on the influence of art in the Congo for the September 2013 issue.

Books

Draper is the author of Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush, a chronicle of the Bush administration from 2001 to 2007. He has also written Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History, and a novel, Hadrian's Walls, published in 1995. Draper was featured as a guest on The Daily Show on September 12, 2007, to discuss his book, Dead Certain.

In April, 2012 Draper published Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives, which the Huffington Post described as "much-discussed and heavily-reported." Writing in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl called the book "vivid...a correspondent for GQ and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, Mr. Draper embedded himself in the House in 2011, getting to know the key players—newcomers and old-timers alike. In his group portrait, he doesn't make any sweeping judgments about who is to blame for the failure of this Congress to address the country's long-term problems. But his refreshingly balanced account captures the drama of one of Congress's most combative and maddeningly frustrating years in memory.

Personal

Draper lives in Washington, D.C.

Works

• Rolling stone magazine: the uncensored history, Doubleday, 1990, ISBN 9780385260602
• Hadrian's walls, Knopf, 1999, ISBN 9780375403699
• Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush. Free Press. 25 March 2008. ISBN 978-0-7432-7729-7.
• Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives. Free Press. 24 April 2012. pp. 331–. ISBN 978-1-4516-4208-7.
  • When the Tea Party Came to Town: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives' Most Combative, Dysfunctional, and Infuriating Term in Modern History. Simon & Schuster. 21 May 2013. pp. 335–. ISBN 978-1-4516-4209-4.

External links

• Robert Draper Profile in the Austin Chronicle: " Writer at Large," May 14, 1999
• Jonathan Karl in The Wall Street Journal on Do Not Ask What Good We Do
• "Author Had Rare Access to Bush for 'Dead Certain' ". NPR Sep. 4, 2007.
• "Kathleen Parker Fetes 'Brash' Author in Georgetown Home, Hems and Haws about Eliot Spitzer". "Mediabistro" May 2, 2012.