Ramesh Ponnuru
Encyclopedia
Ramesh Ponnuru is a Washington, D.C.
-based Indian American
columnist
and a senior editor for National Review
magazine
. He is also a contributor to TIME
magazine and WashingtonPost.com. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
, Newsday
, the New York Post
, The Weekly Standard
, Policy Review
, The New Republic
, and First Things
.
A conservative
pundit, Ponnuru has appeared in many public affairs and news interview programs. He is perhaps best known for his 2006 book, The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life
, published by Regnery Publishing
. In response to questions about and criticism of the provocative title, Ponnuru has explained in interviews that the term is intended to define a political movement
that has taken over control of the Democratic Party through abortion
and other death-related issues.
, a suburb of Kansas City. He attended Briarwood Elementary School and Mission Valley Middle School. He skipped the 8th grade and directly entered high school. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School
at the age of 15, he went to Princeton University
, where he earned a B.A.
in history and graduated summa cum laude. He is of Asian Indian
descent and has converted to Roman Catholicism. He is married to April Ponnuru.
ger Andrew Sullivan
, who has accused Ponnuru, among other things, of not speaking out on what Sullivan believes to be Bush
Administration human rights
abuses, of being a "Christianist," of hyperbolic attacks on the Democratic Party, and of abandoning conservative principles. The two have also debated the state and nature of contemporary conservatism.
Ponnuru has also had disagreements with fellow National Review columnist John Derbyshire
. Derbyshire panned Ponnuru's book Party of Death in the New England Review
in 2006, in an article titled "A Frigid and Pitiless Dogma."
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Indian American
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
and a senior editor for 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...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
. He is also a contributor to TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine and WashingtonPost.com. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, 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...
, Policy Review
Policy Review
Policy Review is one of America's leading conservative journals. It was founded by the Heritage Foundation and was for many years the foundation's flagship publication. In 2001, the publication was acquired by the Stanford University-based Hoover Institution, though it maintains its office on...
, 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...
, and 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...
.
A conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
pundit, Ponnuru has appeared in many public affairs and news interview programs. He is perhaps best known for his 2006 book, The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life
The Party of Death
The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life is a book written by Ramesh Ponnuru. The hardcover edition, published by Regnery Publishing, was released on April 24, 2006 and consists of 320 pages...
, published by Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
. In response to questions about and criticism of the provocative title, Ponnuru has explained in interviews that the term is intended to define a political movement
Political movement
A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...
that has taken over control of the Democratic Party through abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and other death-related issues.
Personal life
Ponnuru was raised in Prairie Village, KansasPrairie Village, Kansas
Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 21,447.- History :...
, a suburb of Kansas City. He attended Briarwood Elementary School and Mission Valley Middle School. He skipped the 8th grade and directly entered high school. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School
Shawnee Mission School District
The Shawnee Mission School District is one of the major school districts in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Located in northeast Johnson County, Kansas, the school district enrolled approximately 40,000 students in the 2009-2010 school year...
at the age of 15, he went to Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history and graduated summa cum laude. He is of Asian Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
descent and has converted to Roman Catholicism. He is married to April Ponnuru.
Disputes with Bloggers
Ponnuru has had an ongoing disagreement with blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
, who has accused Ponnuru, among other things, of not speaking out on what Sullivan believes to be Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Administration human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses, of being a "Christianist," of hyperbolic attacks on the Democratic Party, and of abandoning conservative principles. The two have also debated the state and nature of contemporary conservatism.
Ponnuru has also had disagreements with fellow National Review columnist John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire is a British-American writer. His columns in National Review and cover a broad range of political-cultural topics, including immigration, China, history, mathematics, and race. Derbyshire's 1996 novel, Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, was a New York Times "Notable Book of the...
. Derbyshire panned Ponnuru's book Party of Death in the New England Review
New England Review
The New England Review is a quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College. Founded in New Hampshire in 1978 by poet, novelist, editor and professor Sydney Lea and poet Jay Parini, it was published as New England Review & Bread Loaf Quarterly from 1982 , until 1991 as a formal...
in 2006, in an article titled "A Frigid and Pitiless Dogma."
External links
- National Review biography
- National Review columns
- Video debates featuring Ponnuru on Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...