Philadelphia Speaker Series: Chris Wallace

Award-winning television anchor and political commentator, Chris Wallace’s career spans five decades. He is an anchor on CNN – host of The Chris Wallace Show, which airs Saturday mornings on CNN, and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, a wide-ranging interview program on MAX. Praised as an “equal opportunity inquisitor” by The Boston Globe and “an aggressive journalist,” “sharp edged” and “solid” by The Washington Post, Wallace interviews CEOs and media moguls, Hollywood legends and newsmakers across politics, business, world affairs, sports and culture.

Prior to CNN, Wallace was the anchor of FOX News Sunday for 18 years, where he covered every major political event, secured numerous high-profile interviews with dignitaries as well as U.S and foreign leaders, covered five presidential elections, and interviewed every president since George H.W. Bush.

Throughout his five decades in broadcasting, he has reported from the ABC News desk as a senior correspondent for Primetime and 20/20; as NBC Chief White House Correspondent; and as anchor on the longest running show on television, NBC News’ Meet the Press. He has interviewed numerous U.S. and world leaders, including seven American presidents, and won every major broadcast news award for his reporting, including three Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, and the Peabody Award. 

In 2016, Wallace earned praise from fellow journalists and political operatives on both sides of the aisle for his sterling performance moderating the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He returned to the moderator’s chair again for the 2020 matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

Wallace is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, including Character: Profile in Presidential Courage; Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World; and Countdown Bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice.