Margaret Carlson

Margaret Carlson is an American journalist, political pundit, and a columnist for Bloomberg News, where she has been a political columnist since 2005. She was also a regular panelist on CNN's "Capital Gang" from 1992 until its cancellation in 2005.

Carlson is recognized for her pioneering role as the first female columnist at Time magazine. Joining Time in January 1988 from The New Republic, where she had been managing editor; in 1994, she became the magazine's first female columnist. Carlson covered four presidential elections for Time and served as a White House correspondent before transitioning to Bloomberg News, where she continues to write a column.

Her journalism career has also included roles as Washington bureau chief for Esquire, editor of the short-lived Washington Weekly, and reporter and member of the editorial staff for the Washington-based national weekly newspaper "Legal Times." Her accolades include two National Headliner Awards and the Belva Ann Lockwood alumni award from George Washington University Law School. She serves on the boards of the German Marshall Fund and the Newseum. Carlson has held fellowships at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, Yale University as a Poynter Fellow, and has been a journalist-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame. She earned her bachelor's degree from Penn State University and a law degree from George Washington University Law School.