Biography
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019), better known as Cokie Roberts, was a prominent American journalist and bestselling author. Her extensive career spanned decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio (NPR) and ABC News, featuring key roles on programs such as Morning Edition, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, World News Tonight, and This Week.
Together with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, she penned a weekly syndicated column distributed by United Media in newspapers nationwide. Roberts also served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Kaiser Family Foundation, and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Council on Service and Civic Participation.
The nickname "Cokie" originated from her brother Tommy, who, as a child, could not pronounce her given name, Corinne.
Roberts was the daughter of Lindy Boggs, longtime Democratic Congresswoman from Louisiana and ambassador to the Holy See, and Hale Boggs, a Democratic Congressman from Louisiana who served as House Majority Leader and was a member of the Warren Commission. After Hale Boggs disappeared in a plane accident over Alaska on October 16, 1972, Lindy Boggs was elected to fill his congressional seat. Cokie was their third child. Her sister, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, served as mayor of Princeton, New Jersey, and ran for U.S. Senate from New Jersey, while her brother Tommy Boggs was a notable Washington, D.C. attorney and lobbyist.
Roberts began her career at NPR in 1978, serving for over a decade as the congressional correspondent. She contributed to PBS’s The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, earning the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting in 1988 for her coverage of the Iran-Contra Affair. Between 1981 and 1984, alongside her NPR duties, she co-hosted The Lawmakers, a weekly public television program focused on Congress.
In 1988, Roberts joined ABC News as a political correspondent on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings while maintaining a part-time political commentator role at NPR.
From 1992 onward, Roberts was a senior news analyst and commentator for NPR, frequently appearing on Morning Edition on Mondays to review political developments. She co-anchored ABC News' Sunday morning program This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts from 1996 to 2002 and served as ABC News’ chief congressional analyst. Her reporting covered politics, Congress, and public policy for World News Tonight and other ABC broadcasts.
Roberts received multiple accolades, including the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for coverage of Congress, and a 1991 Emmy Award for her work on "Who is Ross Perot?" In 2000, she was honored with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and recognized by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in broadcasting history.
Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and was initially successfully treated; however, she passed away due to complications from the disease in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 2019.
