Coulter, Ann

▪ 2006

      Pundit Ann Coulter was not the first American commentator, on either the left or the right, to reach celebrity status by unleashing a consistent barrage of outrageous polemic invective in the national media, but the conservative Coulter could be even more extreme, more steadfast, and—perhaps most important—even more entertaining than her predecessors. In 2005 she appeared on the cover of the April 25 issue of Time magazine, reaffirming her worth as a media drawing card and a lightning rod for controversy. On TV, in best-selling books, and in a syndicated column, Coulter hammered the American left with accusations of hypocrisy and treason. Her brash rhetoric was intended primarily as an attempt to taunt her opposition into arguing with her. To her delight, it often worked. Coulter insisted that many of her more controversial statements were meant to be humorous—wild exaggerations used to prove a larger point and to amuse herself and her friends. One of her most publicized remarks came shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., in which a friend of hers had died. Reacting to video footage showing Muslims celebrating in the streets, Coulter wrote, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.” Coulter said that her detractors had taken that statement, and others, too literally.

      Ann Hart Coulter was born on Dec. 8, 1961, in New York City and raised in New Canaan, Conn. With a father who was a corporate lawyer and two older brothers, Coulter learned to be verbally aggressive at a young age. In fact, she claimed to have argued the merits of the Vietnam War with her kindergarten teacher. She received a bachelor's degree (1984) from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and graduated with a law degree (1988) from the University of Michigan, where she served as an editor of the Michigan Law Review. In 1994 she left a private law firm in New York to work for U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham in Washington, D.C. In 1996 Coulter was hired to work as a commentator on the cable news channel MSNBC and immediately made a name for herself with her sarcastic, over-the-top approach to political debate. The following year she was fired after quipping, “No wonder you guys lost,” during the broadcast of an argument with a disabled Vietnam veteran. Nevertheless, she continued to be invited onto other TV programs to appear as a political pundit. She was also a regular contributor to Human Events, a conservative weekly, and in 1999 she began writing a column for United Press Syndicate.

      Coulter's first book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (1998), was a product of her work on Paula Jones's sexual-harassment suit against President Clinton. Subsequent books included Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (2002), Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (2003), and How to Talk to a Liberal (if You Must) (2004).

Anthony G. Craine

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