Robert J. Samuelson


Robert Jacob Samuelson was an American conservative journalist for The Washington Post, where he wrote about business and economic issues from 1977 to 2020. He was a columnist for Newsweek magazine from 1984 to 2011.

Career

Samuelson began his career in journalism as a reporter on the business desk of The Washington Post in 1969 and left the paper to become a freelancer in 1973. His work has appeared in The Sunday Times, The New Republic and the Columbia Journalism Review. He joined the National Journal in 1976, where he wrote the "Economic Focus" column. He was a contributing editor there from 1981 to 1984, when he left to write for Newsweek. At age 75, Samuelson posted his last op-ed article in The Washington Post on September 14, 2020.

Personal life and death

Samuelson was born in New York City on December 23, 1945, and raised in nearby White Plains, New York. He received his bachelor's degree in 1967 from Harvard University, where he concentrated in government. He and his wife, Judith Herr, lived in Bethesda, Maryland, and have three children. Samuelson died in Bethesda on December 13, 2025, at the age of 79.

Journalism awards

Samuelson received: