Last updated on: 1/14/2011 | Author: ProCon.org

Greg Palast, MBA Biography

Title:
Author and Investigative Journalist
Position:
Con to the question "Was Ronald Reagan a Good President?"
Reasoning:

“You’re not going to like this. You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone’s got to.
Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer…

In Chaguitillo [Nicaragua], all night long, the farmers stayed awake to guard their kids from attack from Reagan’s Contra terrorists. The farmers weren’t even Sandinistas, those ‘Commies’ that our cracked-brained President told us were ‘only a 48-hour drive from Texas.’ What the hell would they want with Texas, anyway?

Nevertheless, the farmers, and their families, were Ronnie’s targets…

Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance.”

“Killer, Con-Man, Coward: Good Riddance Gipper,” gregpalast.com, June 6, 2004
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
Organizations/VIPS/Others
Individuals and organizations that do not fit into the other star categories.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Former Journalist, Harper’s magazine
  • Former Journalist, Newsnight, BBC
  • Former Investigative Reporter, Guardian
  • Former Journalist, U.K. Observer
  • Recipient, George Orwell Courage in Journalism Award for BBC documentary Bush Family Fortunes, 2003
  • Recipient, Peace and Justice Award, Office of the Americas
  • Patron of the Philosophical Society, Trinity College
  • Recipient, Path Breaking Investigative Journalism Award, Long Island Progressive Coalition
  • First Place, Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism, Book Category, National Press Club
  • Guerrilla of the Year, Guerrilla News Network
  • Politics Story of the Year, Salon.com, 2001
  • Recipient, Upton Sinclair Freedom of Expression Award, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  • Recipient, David Thomas Prize, Financial Times
Education:
  • MBA, University of Chicago, 1976
  • AB, Finance, University of Chicago, 1974
Other:
  • For the BBC, investigated a “voter caging” operation from within the office of presidential advisor Karl Rove and reported on the disclosure of confidential US State Department pre-invasion plans for the oil fields of Iraq
  • Independently uncovered and documented voter fraud in the 2000 presidential election
  • Directed a fraud investigation of BP and Exxon for the Chugach Natives of Alaska after the grounding of the Exxon Valdez
  • Worked for two decades as an investigator of corporate fraud
Quoted in:
Pro & Con Quotes: Was Ronald Reagan a Good President?