Charles Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer (March 13, 1950 – June 21, 2018) was an American political columnist, author, psychiatrist, and commentator distinguished by his rigorous conservative analysis of domestic and foreign affairs. Born in New York City to Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Belgium, he was raised in Montreal, Quebec, where his family emphasized multilingualism and intellectual pursuits. Krauthammer earned a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1970, held a Commonwealth Scholarship in politics at Oxford University, and received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975. During his first year of medical school, a diving accident severed his spinal cord, rendering him quadriplegic, yet he persisted to graduate on time and complete psychiatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

As a psychiatrist, Krauthammer contributed to the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and co-identified a variant of bipolar disorder characterized by brief, nonpsychotic manic episodes. In 1978, he shifted to public policy and journalism, advising the Carter administration on psychiatric matters, drafting speeches for Democratic vice-presidential candidate Walter Mondale, and writing editorials for The New Republic and The Washington Post. His twice-weekly syndicated column, launched in The Washington Post in 1984 and distributed to over 400 newspapers, secured the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for commentary due to its wit, clarity, and insight on national issues. A leading neoconservative intellectual, Krauthammer championed American exceptionalism, democratic interventionism— including staunch advocacy for the 2003 Iraq invasion—and skepticism toward multilateralism, while critiquing isolationism and liberal domestic policies. He authored influential books like Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics (2013), a bestseller compiling his essays, and served as a Fox News contributor, shaping conservative discourse until announcing his terminal cancer diagnosis in 2018.

Charles Krauthammer was born Irving Charles Krauthammer on March 13, 1950, in Manhattan, New York City, to Orthodox Jewish parents who had immigrated to the United States from Europe. His father, Shulim Krauthammer, originated from Ukraine and was multilingual, fluent in nine languages including Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, and French, while working as a lawyer and businessman. His mother, Thea, hailed from Belgium, and the couple had met in Cuba before settling in New York.

At age five, Krauthammer's family relocated to Montreal, Canada, where he was raised in a French-speaking household and attended a Jewish day school. The family spent school years in Montreal but summers in Long Beach, New York, maintaining ties to the United States. His observant father instilled a strong emphasis on Jewish scholarship, requiring extra after-school Talmud study that honed analytical debate skills amid rigorous intellectual discussions at home. This environment, marked by his father's commanding presence and linguistic versatility—sometimes blending languages in conversation—fostered an early appreciation for precise argumentation and cultural depth.