Biography

Midge Rosenthal Decter was born on July 25, 1927 in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. She attended the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...

, and New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

.

She was Assistant Editor at Midstream, then the secretary to the then-editor of Commentary

Commentary (magazine)

Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...

, Robert Warshow

Robert Warshow

Robert Warshow was an American author, a critic and essayist, who wrote about film and popular culture for Commentary magazine and The Partisan Review in the mid-20th century...

. Later she was the executive editor of Harper's under Willie Morris

Willie Morris

William Weaks "Willie" Morris , was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' trademark was his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly...

. She then working in publishing as an editor at Basic Books

Basic Books

Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952 and located in New York. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history.-History:...

 and Legacy Books. Her writing has been published in Commentary, First Things

First Things

First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...

, The Atlantic, the National Review

National Review

National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...

, The New Republic

The New Republic

The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...

, The Weekly Standard

The Weekly Standard

The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...

, and the American Spectator.

Together with Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

, Decter is the former co-chair of the Committee for the Free World and one of the original drivers of the neoconservative movement with her spouse, Norman Podhoretz

Norman Podhoretz

Norman B. Podhoretz is an American neoconservative pundit and writer for Commentary magazine.-Early life:The son of Julius and Helen Podhoretz, Jewish immigrants from the Central European region of Galicia, Podhoretz was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn...

. She is also a founder of the Independent Women's Forum

Independent Women's Forum

The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...

, and was founding treasurer for the Northcote Parkinson Fund, founded and chaired by John Train

John Train

John Train is an American investment advisor and author. He attended Groton School and Harvard University , where he was head of the Lampoon and the Signet Society...

. She is a member of the board of trustees for the Heritage Foundation

Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...

. She is also a Board member of the Center for Security Policy

Center for Security Policy

The Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....

 and the Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and U.S. Congresswoman, representing the state of Connecticut.-Early life:...

 Fund. She is also a member of The Philadelphia Society. She is also a senior fellow at the Institute of Religion and Public Life. She is one of the signatories to Statement of Principles for the Project for the New American Century

Project for the New American Century

The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...

.

She is the mother of the conservative syndicated columnist John Podhoretz

John Podhoretz

John Podhoretz is an American neoconservative columnist for the New York Post, the editor of Commentary magazine, the author of several books on politics, and a former presidential speechwriter.-Life and career:...

, the youngest of her four children, and the second by Norman Podhoretz

Norman Podhoretz

Norman B. Podhoretz is an American neoconservative pundit and writer for Commentary magazine.-Early life:The son of Julius and Helen Podhoretz, Jewish immigrants from the Central European region of Galicia, Podhoretz was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn...

. She is also the mother, by her first marriage, of Rachel Decter (born 1951, who married Elliott Abrams

Elliott Abrams

Elliott Abrams is an American attorney and neoconservative policy analyst who served in foreign policy positions for two Republican U.S. Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. While serving for Reagan and in the State Department, Abrams, Paul Wolfowitz, and retired U.S. Marine Corps officer...

in 1980, and Naomi (born 1952).

Publications

• Losing the First Battle, Winning the War
• The Liberated Woman and Other Americans (1970)
• The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women's Liberation (1972)
• Liberal Parents, Radical Children (1975)
• Always Right: Selected Writings of Midge Decter
• Rumsfeld : A Personal Portrait (2003)