Dan Balz

Dan Balz is an American journalist who has been a political correspondent at The Washington Post since 1978. He has held various positions at the newspaper, including National Editor, Political Editor, White House correspondent, and Texas-based Southwest correspondent. Balz is known for his appearances on news shows like Meet the Press and the PBS program Washington Week. In 2011, he was honored with the Merriman Smith Award by the White House Correspondents' Association for his exceptional coverage of presidential events under deadline pressure. Balz was born in Freeport, Illinois, and graduated from Freeport High School. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1971. Balz is also the co-author of the book Storming the Gates: Protest Politics and the Republican Revival, published in 1996.