According to a reviewer of one of his books, Arianna Huffington, David Frum is someone who fearlessly speaks his mind, regardless of where the chips may fall. The Canadian-American political commentator has consistently kept up with the given both in his articles for The Atlantic where he is a senior editor, on other platforms he contributes to and in his books.
He has authored nine books, including his 2012 novel Patriots and Trumpocracy (2018), a tell-all book about the dangers posed by the presidency to American democracy. From 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President and in 2007, he was a senior adviser to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaigns.
Who Exactly is David Frum?
A one-time speechwriter for George W. Bush, David Frum has been a relentless critic of the current Republican administration. He criticizes the government both in his articles and in his book, Trumpocracy. Frum has been a senior editor at The Atlantic since 2014 and also contributes on MSNBC.
He was the chairman of the board of trustees of the British think tank, Policy Exchange (2014-2017), serves on the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the anti-drug policy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and as vice chairman and an associate fellow of the R Street Institute.
His date of birth was on the 30th of June 1960, the same decade the political movement known as neoconservatism which he would later become its ardent follower was found. Named David Jeffrey Frum, he was born into a Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was raised alongside his sister, Linda Frum, a member of the Senate of Canada.
From an early age, Frum started showing interest in political matters. In 1975, aged 14, he volunteered to campaign for an Ontario New Democratic Party candidate Jan Dukszta for the provincial election. He almost gave up on the political after the campaign as he had to endure jeers from his campaign colleagues.
David Frum obtained his secondary education at the University of Toronto Schools where he also served as the school captain before graduating in 1978. He then proceeded to Yale University. Therein, he earned both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in history in 1982. Moreover, he was in Directed Studies and studied Western culture as well as was a member of the Tory Party of the Yale Political Union. Following his Yale studies, Frum got his Juris Doctor (J.D.) at Harvard Law School in 1987 before venturing into broadcasting.
Here are Facts You Need To Know About Him
Career
David Frum worked as an associate editor of Saturday Night after his return to Toronto and then as an editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal for three years (1989 – 1992). This was followed by Forbes Magazine where he was a columnist from 1992-1994 before he joined the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research as a senior fellow until 2000.
He was with The Weekly Standard, a neoconservative opinion magazine as a contributing editor, Canada’s National Post as a columnist, regular contributor for National Public Radio (NPR) and National Review as a contributing editor and online blogger but left in 2008.
After his stint at National Review, David Frum launched a new political website named NewMajority.com in January 2009 but later changed it to FrumForum in October. The aim was to create an online community which would appeal to younger readers, in his opinion, often repelled by today’s mainstream conservatism. Three years later, it was merged into The Daily Beast where he continued to blog nonetheless.
Besides NPR, he was a commentator for American Public Media’s Marketplace from 2007 to 2011 and has made appearances in other radio programs including the weekly program Left, Right & Center on KCRW where he presents the conservative viewpoint as well as the NPR affiliate in Santa Monica, California.
David Frum Political Affiliations and Neoconservatism
David Frum is a conservative Republican and has been for a very long time. In 1996, he was part of the organizers of the early political movement, Winds of Change in Calgary, Alberta, geared towards uniting Canada’s two main political parties: the Reform Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
In January 2001, he was appointed to the Bush administration as one of the few foreign nationals. He naturalized in 2007. He served as special assistant to the president for economic speechwriting until February 2002. During this time, he was also an ardent supporter of the Iraq war.
Subsequently, he became a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a neo-conservative think tank from 2003 to 2010. In 2003, he co-authored An Evil to Evil with Richard Perle wherein he boldly presented the neoconservative view of global affairs and an apologia of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Frum served on the Rudolph Giuliani’s presidential campaign in 2007 but voted for later on. In the 2016 presidential run, he supported and voted for as against Trump. He has not only been a major critic of the 45th POTUS but of the Republican party as well.
Personal Life – Family
Frum is the son of the late renowned Canadian journalist, Barbara Frum (née Rosberg) and late Murray Frum, a dentist turned real estate developer, philanthropist, and art collector. His mother was born in Niagara Falls, New York while his father’s family are Poland immigrants who moved to Toronto in 1930. He has one known sibling, Linda.
His mother was an active part of his political journey and was the one that gave him a paperback edition of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago which he read to commuters during his teenage political campaign. It was the book that earned him the derision that almost made him turn his back on politics.
He is married to the writer Danielle Crittenden. Frum and his wife are parents to three lovely children. Though born into a Jewish family, he considers himself “a not especially observant Jew”. The family of five share their time between their homes in Washington DC and Wellington, Ontario.
Bibliography
David Frum is an extensive writer and has voiced his opinions over the years through his pen more than his mouth, although he is especially vocal about political matters. His first book, Dead Right was released in 1994 to rave reviews. It was followed by What’s Right in 1996 and How We Got Here in 2000. Then came the memoir of his service in the Bush administration, The Right Man (2003) which was the first insider account of the Bush presidency. The book was also a #1 New York Times bestseller.
He co-wrote An End to Evil with Richard Perle. Therein, he suggested ways to win the war on terror. That same year, he ghostwrote The Mystery of Capital and in 2008, Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again was published.
Frum released the e-book Why Romney Lost and his first novel, Patriots in 2012. His latest outing, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic came in 2018.
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