ANDREW COHEN

In a career spanning more than four decades, Cohen has worked in Ottawa, Toronto, Washington and Berlin. Among other publications, he has appeared in Foreign Affairs, International Journal, Time, The Financial Times of London, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Congressional Quarterly, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, The Walrus and Saturday Night.

His seven books of history, biography and commentary range in subjects from Canada’s constitutional politics to national character and Arctic exploration. His provocative study of Canadian foreign policy – While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World – was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, Canada’s highest literary prize. His other books explore the legacies of two extraordinary prime ministers, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Lester B. Pearson.

His latest book is Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Made History. It revisits the high noon of Camelot, when JFK pivots decisively on the two biggest issues of his generation: civil rights and nuclear arms. Reviewers called it a “page-turner”, a “home run”, and a “historical thriller”. Two Days in June has been nominated for three literary awards and optioned as a feature film in Hollywood.

Cohen is a four-time finalist for the National Newspaper Award in commentary, winning twice. He has won three National Magazine Awards and twice received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Since 2002 he has written a weekly column for The Ottawa Citizen, appearing in Postmedia Newspapers across Canada. He is a regular commentator on U.S. politics on CTV News Channel and appears regularly on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Visiting some 65 countries, Cohen covered the Afghan refugee crisis in 1983 and the famine in Somalia in 1992. He has examined public memory in Germany, explored democracy in Taiwan, studied human rights in Indonesia and reported on the Jews of Burma. In the United States, in particular, he has written extensively about Black America, the presidency, history, culture and politics, covering state primaries, party conventions and national elections since 1980. His commentary includes Canadian federalism, Jewish Canada, urban trends, the joys of skiing, the decline of English, the appeal of Montreal bagels, the monarchy in Canada, the mystique of Leonard Cohen and the legacy of Ernest Hemingway. As a lecturer, he has spoken on the civil rights movement, the benefits of studying abroad and the Canadian character.

A native of Montreal, Cohen attended Westmount High School and The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, followed by McGill University, Carleton University and the University of Cambridge. He has degrees in political science, journalism and international relations.

Cohen began in journalism as a weekend copy boy in 1977 with The Ottawa Citizen, where he went on to cover police, education and municipal politics. Between 1980 and 1984, he was a parliamentary reporter with United Press International in Ottawa, seconded to Washington in 1983. He joined The Financial Post in Toronto in 1984 as a political writer, international editor and columnist, freelancing to Saturday Night and other publications. In 1994, he began as an editorial writer with The Globe and Mail.

Between 1997 and 2001, he was the Globe correspondent and columnist in Washington, D.C. In 2007-2008, he was a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. In 2016-2017, as a Fulbright Scholar he held the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, where he is a Global Fellow. In 2020, he was awarded a second Fulbright Scholarship to support his work on Medgar Wiley Evers and the freedom struggle in Mississippi, the subject of his next book.

Over the years, Cohen has contributed essays, reviews, obituaries and profiles to journals, magazines and newspapers at home and abroad. One prize jury praised his work for its “poetry, eloquence and depth.” He has also appeared in radio and television documentaries and podcasts on ethics and Canadian foreign policy, the evolution of museums, the decline of bipartisanship and the unique style of the Kennedy White House. 

As founding president of The Historica-Dominion Institute (now Historica Canada), Cohen promoted the study of the history of Canada and the meaning of citizenship. He sits on the boards of The Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice at the University of Toronto; the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy; and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. 

Since 2001, Cohen has been an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University, in Ottawa. He teaches analytical writing, international reporting and Canadian-American relations. 

He is married to Mary Gooderham, a journalist, author and editor. They have two adult children. They divide their time between Ottawa and the rockbound island of Vinalhaven, 12 miles off the mid coast of Maine.