Meet Linda J. Killian

Linda Killian is a Washington author, journalist, and political analyst who wrote two books on contemporary American politics before earning a Ph.D. in history from American University where she focused on Early America, the founding period, and political history. She has won fellowships and awards from the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, the American Philosophical Society and the Folger Institute. She has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and was a public policy and senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Her most recent book THE SWING VOTE: The Untapped Power of Independents examines the polarization and dysfunction of our political system from the perspective of Independent voters and describes their intense disappointment and frustration with American politics. The Swing Vote focuses on four swing states – Colorado, Ohio, New Hampshire and Virginia – and presents four demographic groups that illustrate who the swing voters are – NPR Republicans, America First Democrats, The Facebook Generation and Starbucks Moms and Dads. In The Swing Vote she offered recommendations for fixing our broken political system and ways for voters to make their voices heard.

Her first book was THE FRESHMEN: What Happened to the Republican Revolution? praised by The New York Review of Books as a colorful, well-written and insightful analysis of what happened to the congressional Republican freshmen of 1994 who gave the GOP its House majority and made Newt Gingrich Speaker of the House. The Freshmen reveals the maneuvering and intrigues, the successes and failures of the historic 104th Republican Congress which changed American government forever and is considered a cult classic on Capitol Hill as well as the most thorough and revealing depiction of that historic period.

She has been a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire writing about national politics and public affairs; a book reviewer for The Washington Post and a contributor to USA Today’s Opinion section. She has also written for The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, Politico, U.S. News & World Report, and many other national news organizations and websites about politics and has appeared as a political analyst on The NewsHour on PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN.

She was the senior editor of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered where she was responsible for the editorial content of NPR’s national evening news program and has appeared on NPR public affairs and talk shows in many cities around the country.

She was the creator and founding director of the Boston University Washington Journalism Center and for ten years was a Boston University professor of journalism, and director of the Boston University Washington Center.