Chris whipple
CHRIS WHIPPLE
An acclaimed documentary filmmaker, author, journalist, and speaker
Chris whipple
CHRIS WHIPPLE
An acclaimed documentary filmmaker, author, journalist, and speaker
Chris whipple
CHRIS WHIPPLE
An acclaimed documentary filmmaker, author, journalist, and speaker
Chris whipple
CHRIS WHIPPLE
An acclaimed documentary filmmaker, author, journalist, and speaker

Chris Whipple, an author, documentary filmmaker, and speaker, has been called “an indispensable observer of American power.” A former producer for CBS News 60 Minutes, he is the author of the headline-making book, The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House, published January 17, 2023. Whipple is also the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, and The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future. Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent of The New York Times, calls him “a premier journalist and historian of the White House as well as the intelligence community.” Whipple has written for Vanity Fair, Politico, the Daily Beast, and many other publications. He has spoken at the Harvard Kennedy School and Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

The Fight of His Life is an in-depth, insider’s look at how President Joe Biden and his seasoned team have battled to achieve their agenda—based on the author’s extraordinary access to the White House during more than a year of domestic and foreign crises.

In January of 2021, the Biden administration inherited a country in chaos. Biden’s team was forced to deal with multiple crises simultaneously—including a lethal pandemic, a plummeting economy, racial injustice, global warming, a far-flung military quagmire, partisan warfare, and a violent right-wing insurrection. All this and an unprovoked invasion by Vladimir Putin of a democracy in the heart of Europe–a crisis that threatened to embroil NATO and the United States itself.

The Fight of His Life takes readers inside the Oval Office as the critical decisions of Biden’s presidency are being made. With unprecedented deep access to nearly all of Biden’s inner circle—including Chief of Staff Ron Klain and other senior officials—Whipple pulls back the curtain on the internal power struggles and back-room compromises. Featuring newsmaking revelations such as which renegade Trump staffers helped facilitate the transition of power, who makes the White House run (it’s probably not who you think), what Bill Clinton and Barack Obama advised Joe Biden to do about Vladimir Putin, and which high-ranking official was blamed for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, The Fight of His Life delivers a surprising portrait of politics on the edge.

It also sheds light on the decision-making processes of the administration’s biggest players, including Vice President Kamala Harris; advisers Ron Klain, Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon; National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan; Secretary of State Anthony Blinken; CIA Director Bill Burns; Climate Envoy John Kerry—and of course, President Biden himself.

A vivid, fly-on-the-wall account of one of America’s most consequential presidencies, The Fight of His Life showcases the insightful analysis and interpretation that is Chris Whipple’s signature. Joe Biden has faced and overcome colossal challenges throughout his lifetime, and The Fight of His Life is the definitive work on his most immense challenge yet.

WATCH CHRIS WHIPPLE'S TV COMMENTARY

CHRIS WHIPPLE IN VANITY FAIR

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READ CHRIS WHIPPLE'S OP-EDS

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Chris Whipple's Awards
AWARDS

Awards

George Foster Peabody Award:
“Mr. Snow Goes to Washington,” CBS News 60 Minutes.
George Foster Peabody Award:
For outstanding coverage for ABC News of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
Emmy Award, Outstanding Investigative Journalism:
“Morgan Medical,” ABC News PrimeTIME Live
Emmy Award:
For outstanding coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks, ABC News
Emmy Nomination:
“Connally,” CBS News 60 Minutes
Emmy Nomination:
“A World Full of Guns,” ABC News, 20/20
Columbia Dupont Gold Baton Award:
For coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks, ABC News
Sigma Delta Chi Award (with ABC News investigative unit):
For coverage of the events of Sept. 11, 2001 ABC News
Christopher Award:
For work that “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.”
“ICU—Arkansas Children’s Hospital
CINE Golden Eagle Awards (6)
For excellence in the media industry
Journalist
Journalist

Chris Whipple’s career in journalism has spanned forty years and countless major world events. He began in Washington D.C. as assistant to Richard Holbrooke at Foreign Policy Magazine; as a correspondent at LIFE Magazine, he covered apartheid in South Africa; revolution in the Philippines; famine in East Africa – and conflicts in El Salvador, Lebanon and Northern Ireland.

He interviewed Winnie Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Ted Kennedy and other world leaders; and wrote profiles of Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert. At 60 Minutes, Mr. Whipple produced segments on Imelda Marcos, Corazon Aquino, John Connally, George H.W. Bush and John McEnroe. He won a Peabody Award for “Mr. Snow Goes to Washington,” which resulted in a national ban on lawn darts.

At ABC News PrimeTime, Whipple produced investigations into mammography and workers compensation fraud; he won the national Emmy for Investigative Reporting for “Morgan Medical,” a medical clinic rigged with hidden cameras that captured doctors and middlemen offering illegal kickbacks for patients.

He pioneered the use of hidden cameras in social experiments, including an Emmy-nominated story on the fatal allure of guns to children. He also created and was Executive Producer of the hit ABC News series, What Would You Do?, with John Quinones, which captures ordinary people’s reactions to ethical dilemmas. As the producer of Pastor to Power: Billy Graham and the Presidents, with Charles Gibson, Whipple directed interviews about faith and the presidency with all the living ex-presidents.

60 Minutes

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