Laura Ingraham has been a recognizable face at Fox News for several years now. The 60-year-old is somewhat of a polarizing figure on TV, but she’s certainly been successful when it comes to forging a career in an extremely competitive arena.
But what about her private life? Here’s all you need to know about the talkshow host.
Laura Ingraham was born on June 19, 1963, in Glastonbury, Connecticut. She was raised in a working-class environment. Her father, James Frederick Ingraham III, served as a veteran in World War II and owned a car wash. Her mother, Anne Caroline Kozak, was employed at a local school and subsequently worked as a waitress.
Laura Ingraham’s school life
Ingraham was raised with three older brothers, who she describes as quite boisterous.
Interestingly, she did not engage in political activities during her school years, choosing to concentrate on sports instead.
In 1981, she completed her education at Glastonbury High School and proceeded to higher education. Ingraham enrolled at the private institution of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire for her undergraduate studies. During her time there, she served as the editor-in-chief of the esteemed conservative publication, the Dartmouth Review. Ingraham made history as its first female editor and was adept at provoking discussion.
“The Review took over my life,” Ingraham told the Hartford Courant in 1999.
“Here you had all these ’60s liberals — who used to be storming administration buildings themselves — in power at Dartmouth, and they didn’t know what to do with this conservative independent paper. I was sued a couple of times for libel by professors. We ended up on ’60 Minutes.’ It was a real catalyst for political involvement — and made doing ‘Crossfire’ look like nothing.”
During her time with the paper, she sent an undercover reporter into a LGBTQ university organization to report on who was attending, according to Business Insider.
Sued at Dartmouth
She conducted interviews with individuals such as conservative commentator and politician William Bennett, Pat Buchanan, and Emmett Tyrrell, the editor of the American Spectator. Nevertheless, her tenure at the newspaper was also marked by controversy.
Ingraham came under fire from a lawsuit when the paper was sued for libel by then professor William Cole. She’d written an article about his class which said that his class was “the most outrageous,” on campus, calling him a “used Brillo pad.”
″Mr. Cole is black; he alleges that the Review purposely publishes articles … to defame and ridicule blacks,” Magistrate Jerome Niedermeier said. ″In fact, the Review makes no secret of its opposition to many blacks present at Dartmouth.”
Ingraham expressed strong disagreement, labeling the lawsuit as “absurd.”
“I cannot ascertain who emerged victorious, but I believe I have made a significant point,” she remarked. “This represents a remarkable advancement for investigative journalism within educational settings.”
Following a two-year libel lawsuit, Cole and the Dartmouth Review reached a resolution by signing a 21-page agreement to conclude the conflict. Furthermore, Cole had requested $600,000 in damages, but ultimately, he did not receive any financial compensation.
Ingraham would also work with conservative activist Gary Bauer as a speechwriter for William Bennett.
Speechwriter work
After completing her graduation, she began her career as a speechwriter for the Reagan administration and the Secretary of Transportation. Subsequently, she pursued further education, obtaining her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Ingraham then served as a judicial clerk for Ralph Winter at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, a judge renowned for his expertise and reputation.
Following this, she worked with Justice Clarence Thomas at the United States Supreme Court and was also employed at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where she collaborated with Bob Bennett, who is the brother of William Bennett.
“She’s a force of nature,” Bob Bennett said. “She was very able, very bright and had a lot of energy. It was also very clear to me that the law was too confining for her. Listen, if she stuck with practicing law, she would have been a tremendous success. But her real interest and skills lay in politics. She had strong opinions and was very effective in how she articulated them. I thought it would be a good match for her.”
Ingraham’s career in media started off in the mid-1990s. She had her own show at MSNBC named Watch It!.
In 2001, she initiated the radio program The Laura Ingraham Show, which was broadcast on over 300 stations and XM Satellite Radio. The program was produced in Washington, D.C., showcasing Ingraham’s perspectives on various political issues.
Additionally, she served as a regular guest host on The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, a network to which she would later make a return.
Becoming a “pundette”
For Ingraham, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was a big thing since it was the start of young conservative women getting airtime as political pundits, known as “pundettes”, according to the Los Angeles Times.
She had talents older pundits didn’t like and were afraid of. Unlike others, she didn’t come from a job in journalism.
“She is young, sexy and ambitious,” journalist Eric Alterman wrote.
She presents her political views with the same fervor as lawyers present their cases, believing that her interpretation is the only valid one, while questioning the competence of her seemingly oblivious opponent.
In 2004, The Laura Ingraham Show transitioned to the Talk Radio Network and continued to expand its audience. By 2012, it was recognized as the fifth most popular radio show in the United States by Talkers Magazine.
Ingraham was also highlighted on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1995 for an article focusing on young conservatives.
Thereafter, Ingraham quickly rose to become one of the most powerful women in the field of political and cultural commentary.
Laura Ingraham – Fox News
She aspired for a larger platform for her program, and in 2008, her aspiration was realized when she received a three-week trial for the television show Just In on Fox News.
In 2012, Ingraham announced her departure from the Talk Radio Network after nearly ten years. Her widely acclaimed radio program, The Laura Ingraham Show, transitioned to the Courtside Entertainment Group in January 2013.
Simultaneously, she established the conservative American website LifeZettle.
Subsequently, in October 2017, she took on the role of host for a new program on the Fox News Channel, The Ingraham Angle, which quickly achieved remarkable success.
In July of 2018, the Ingraham Angle was the third-highest rate cable TV news program in the adults’ 25-54 demographic among all cable news programs in June of the same year, according to Variety. It has a whopping 2.6 million viewers.
In addition to her contributions to television and radio, Ingraham is also a published author of multiple books. Her works include several New York Times bestsellers, such as The Hillary Trap, Shut Up & Sing, Power to the People, and The Obama Diaries, among others.
Laura Ingraham – relationships
Laura Ingraham has been involved in several relationships over the course of her life. The prominent political commentator and talk show host has been associated with various notable figures. Currently, she is not married and has never entered into matrimony.
Due to her prominence in the public eye, numerous relationships she has engaged in have garnered significant attention. As a result, this has inevitably given rise to speculation regarding her personal life.
While studying at Dartmouth, Ingraham met Dinesh D’Souza. He was an exchange student from India and, though other students made fun of him Ingraham and he grew close. He taught her how to write news stories and track down sources. More importantly, though, as mentioned in Politico, how to stay firm with her principles.
They eventually became a couple and got engaged. Although they never made it through the isle, their relationship as friends would carry on.
D’Souza was described as “political pundit, writer, documentary-film maker, and onetime wunderkind of the intellectual elite” in Vanity Fair.
Dating history
In 2014, D’Souza received a sentence for committing campaign finance fraud. Ingraham supported him by penning a letter to the presiding judge.
“Dinesh is simply one of the finest human beings I have ever met,” Ingraham wrote in her letter.
His generosity, philanthropic endeavors, deep compassion, and unwavering commitment to his country are attributes I hope my children will embrace as they transition into adulthood. Before this recent unfortunate event, his life exemplified the quintessential story of immigrant achievement. I am familiar with the specifics of his case and understand the seriousness with which the court approaches his plea. I kindly urge you to consider the full scope of his life during this sentencing phase, including his contributions, humility, and compassion.
In the 1990s, as Ingraham’s television career gained momentum, her romantic life garnered increased publicity and interest.
In 2008, The New Yorker reported that Ingraham dated political pundit Keith Olbermann “briefly a decade ago.” Their political views were polar opposite. That, however, wasn’t the reason to why the couple went separate ways, according to Olbermann.
He said: “There were a few problems. There were a few things that I could see were going to be impediments. Oddly, they were not political things.”
Over the following years, their political differences sure seemed to be a problem.
Icy relationship
Ingraham suggested that Olbermann had insulted American troops, saying:
It is my conviction that MSNBC should consider enlisting a medical team at this juncture. The circumstances surrounding his condition are unclear to me; he has not always exhibited such behavior.
In 2017, Olbermann publicly criticized her, alleging that she had committed an act of vandalism against her former partner’s residence by inserting a garden hose through the mail slot.
Did they do that to you when you vandalized your ex-boyfriend's house by stuffing the garden hose through the letter slot? https://t.co/EV8qMLO5iR
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 11, 2017
Moving forward, Ingraham reportedly dated former politician and democratic Senator Robert Torricelli in 1999, as well as economist and former president of Harvard University, Lawrence H Summers, in the early 2000s.
Laura Ingraham – breast cancer
In 2005, The Harvard Crimson reported that “tabloids were abuzz with rumors of [Lawrence’s] relationship with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham”. However, neither of them have confirmed they were dating.
In the same year, Laura Ingraham became acquainted with and began a relationship with entrepreneur James V Reyes. It is reported that they were introduced through a blind date and subsequently became engaged in April 2005.
However, just one month later, a devastating event would bring their engagement to an end.
In 2005, Ingraham received a diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer. As she was preparing for surgery, she took the opportunity to inform her listeners about her diagnosis on the very same day. Consequently, her wedding plans were abandoned.
To all those women diagnosed with breast cancer, read this. When I was diagnosed I went into overdrive on my usual weight-lifting routine. It really helped. https://t.co/a9Ss5uGbOL
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 8, 2018
Following her chemotherapy treatment, the cancer was gone.
“The coast is clear,” Ingraham said in an interview with Talkers in 2013.
“I try to go on without obsessing about it all that much. It was not a pleasant experience to go through and I treated it like training for a marathon, or writing a law school essay. I powered through it and did not want people to pity me.”
Laura Ingraham – children
Laura Ingraham is an advocate for both domestic and international adoption, a commitment that has resulted in the 60-year-old talk show host welcoming three children into her family.
Twelve years ago, she adopted her first daughter, Maria, from Guatemala. Subsequently, Ingraham expanded her family by adopting two additional children, Dmitri and Nikolai, from Russia. The family resides contentedly in Washington, D.C.
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