Biography

Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for The Wall Street Journal. He teamed up with Rowland Evans in 1963 to start Inside Report, which became the longest running syndicated political column in U.S. history and ran in hundreds of papers. They also started the Evans-Novak Political Report, a notable biweekly newsletter, in 1967.

Novak and Evans played a significant role for CNN after the network's founding. He worked as a well-known television personality in programs such as Capital Gang, Crossfire, and Evans, Novak, Hunt, & Shields. He also wrote for numerous other publications such as Reader's Digest. On August 4, 2008, Novak announced that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, that his prognosis was "dire", and that he was retiring. He succumbed to the disease on August 18, 2009, after having returned home to spend his last days with his family.

His colleagues nicknamed Novak the "Prince of Darkness", a description that he embraced and later used as a title for his autobiography. He started out with moderate or liberal views, but these shifted right-ward over time. He later served as a notable voice for American conservatism in his writings and in his television appearances while taking differing views on issues such as Israel–United States relations and the invasion of Iraq. He also broke several major stories in his career, and he played a role in media events such as the Plame affair.