Andrea Mitchell has been a journalist since she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. Working continuously on radio and TV news shows, she worked her way up to Chief Congressional, Chief White House, and Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent for NBC news, covering stories like the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear power plant disaster along the way. These achievements came at times when women journalists had to fight even harder than they do now for jobs, recognition, and promotion.
As she grew in professional stature, she is reported to have been generous and kind to younger women journalists, which is not always a given. Now with her own show on MSNBC weekdays at noon, for which she does her own reporting, she also has the best upper arms on television—defined and trim at age 73. Remarkably, she races to the front lines to interview candidates and beats much younger reporters, appears on numerous other news shows, and writes for her own show. All on four hours of sleep.
For these reasons, when I am feeling down or lazy—self-indulgent—I ask myself, what would Andrea Mitchell do?
My question is answered easily when it comes to motivating my own exercise regimen, minuscule compared to hers, because AM obviously puts her time in lifting weights—I’ve read that she squeezes time to work with a trainer, à la another inspiration, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With larger questions in life, AM is a guiding light for me too. During the long period when I could not publish my novel, I looked to her long career and the tenacity it must have taken to remain in the newsroom and rise in the ranks. I admire her elegance, grace, and cool, even while asking the tough questions with her no-nonsense approach.
Andrea Mitchell presents as a low-key persona on television, one that can be interpreted as humble. She is a Nationals baseball fan, a Democrat (I assume), an anchor, pundit, and journalist. Whatever else she is, her choice in a mate is baffling: Alan Greenspan, member of Ayn Rand’s circle in the 1950s and as Federal Reserve Chair, promoter of the easy money legacy, which many think led directly to the subprime mortgage and credit crisis of 2007 (however incomprehensible, there are many mixed-politics couples).
Why do I ask what Andrea Mitchell would do, and not Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Pelosi, RBG, Nurse Edith Cavell, or Greta Thunberg? Andrea Mitchell is alive and a member of my generation, plus I find her calm demeanor, her speech—flawed often by hesitation—comforting. However courageous AM is, Nancy Pelosi and RBG—both alive and fit—are too fearless, too brave and outspoken to be comforting mentors—too much the warrior icons, and thank goodness for them. Triple that for Greta. I am too much in awe of their courage and certainty to even wonder what they would do in any situation. Of course Nancy would not have a second drink! Greta’s never had one, let alone a second chocolate chip cookie—or a moment’s inaction against the tide of horrors I find defeating.
Once the impeachment trial is over, and the weight of the verdict presses heavily upon us, I will need Andrea Mitchell more than ever. Soon, when it’s noon on some days and time for my low-key weight lifting (once my hand heals from surgery last month)—I’ll turn on the Andrea Mitchell news show—her upper arms beckon.