Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro has been NPR's White House Correspondent since 2010. His stories appear on all of NPR's newsmagazines, including All Things Considered and Morning Edition, where he is also a frequent guest host.

Shapiro began reporting on the White House after five years as NPR's Justice Correspondent, covering national security and counterterrorism during one of the most tumultuous periods in the Justice Department's history.

He spent 2012 on the campaign trail, leading NPR's coverage of Mitt Romney during the primary and general election. He also travels widely overseas in his reporting, including visits to Afghanistan with President Obama and to Iraq with Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

The first NPR reporter to be promoted to correspondent before age 30, Shapiro has been recognized with several journalism prizes, including The American Bar Association's Silver Gavel for his coverage of prisoners lost in Louisiana's detention system after Hurricane Katrina; The Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission; the Columbia Journalism Review's "laurel" recognition of his investigation into disability benefits for injured veterans; and the American Judges' Association's American Gavel for a body of work reporting on courts and the justice system. He regularly appears as a guest analyst on CNN, PBS, NBC, and other TV news outlets.

Before covering the Justice Department, Shapiro worked as a public radio reporter in Atlanta, Miami, and Boston.

Shapiro moonlights as a guest singer with the "little orchestra" Pink Martini, based in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Since he debuted with them at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009, he has performed with the band at many of the world's most storied venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, L'Olympia in Paris, and Mount Lycabettus in Athens. He has recorded songs on three of Pink Martini's albums, in five languages.

Shapiro is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale. He began his journalism career in 2001 in the office of NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. Shapiro was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and grew up in Portland, Oregon.

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News
3:25 am
Sat June 8, 2013

NSA Scandal Looms Over Obama-Xi Talks

Credit Evan Vucci / AP
President Obama walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a retreat on Friday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where the two leaders are meeting for talks.

Originally published on Sun June 9, 2013 3:39 am

President Obama always intended to talk about spying this weekend. But not like this.

He's getting to know China's new leader at a sprawling estate in the Southern California desert this weekend, but domestic controversies have followed him there.

The president veered off his talking points Friday to spend more than 10 minutes defending a pair of massive surveillance operations that the media recently disclosed.

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Politics
4:09 pm
Thu June 6, 2013

Sunnylands: Where Movie Stars And Presidents Play (And Work)

Credit White House / The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands
President Bill Clinton with Walter and Leonore Annenberg at the entrance of the historic estate on Feb. 14, 1995.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 3:38 pm

President Obama arrives in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Friday to spend two days with China's new president, Xi Jinping, at a 200-acre estate called Sunnylands.

The house at Sunnylands is built of lava stone. The private golf course includes a pink pagoda. And if the presidents feel like fishing in one of the property's 11 lakes, they will hardly be the first world leaders to dip a line in the water.

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It's All Politics
3:23 am
Sat June 1, 2013

Obama's Economic View: A Glass Half-Full And Half-Empty

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
President Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday. He said the economy is seeing progress but added that too many people are still struggling.

Originally published on Sat June 1, 2013 4:39 am

It has been a good week for economic news. Here's a quick rundown of the positive signs: Home prices showed their best gains in seven years. Consumer confidence hit a five-year high. The stock market set a new record. All just this week.

"We're seeing progress," President Obama said in the White House Rose Garden on Friday morning, "and the economy is starting to pick up steam. The gears are starting to turn again, and we're getting some traction."

You could tell from the tone of his voice that he was leading up to a "but."

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It's All Politics
3:49 pm
Wed May 29, 2013

Why Obama Wants To Change The Key Law In The Terrorism Fight

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
President Obama speaks at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., on May 23.

Originally published on Wed May 29, 2013 5:18 pm

Almost all of the federal government's actions against terrorism — from drone strikes to the prison at Guantanamo Bay — are authorized by a single law: the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Congress passed it just after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Now, President Obama says he wants to revise the law, and ultimately repeal it.

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Politics
1:51 am
Tue May 28, 2013

Obama's Next Big Campaign: Selling Health Care To The Public

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act at the White House on May 10.

Originally published on Tue May 28, 2013 5:58 am

President Obama often tells audiences that he has waged his last campaign. But that's not exactly true.

The White House is gearing up for a massive campaign this summer that will cover all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. And the president's legacy may hinge on whether it succeeds or fails.

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It's All Politics
1:06 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Obama Group's Climate Push Puts President Under Scrutiny

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama speaks at Ellicott Dredges in Baltimore on May 17. The trip followed a visit by the company's president to Capitol Hill to testify in support of the Keystone XL pipeline. The White House says Obama's speech had nothing to do with Keystone, but environmental groups have been frustrated with his stance on the issue.

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

It's All Politics
1:07 am
Mon May 20, 2013

Is There Really A Second-Term Curse?

Originally published on Mon May 20, 2013 9:15 am

The phrase "second term curse" is so familiar that it's become a cliche of American politics. Whether it's President Richard Nixon's resignation or President Bill Clinton's impeachment, presidents tend to have a tough time during the back half of an eight-year presidency.

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NPR Story
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

What A Week: White House Rattled By Controversy

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:23 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. There are three simultaneous controversies rattling the Obama administration this week: the IRS, the phone records of the AP reporters, and Benghazi. NPR's White House correspondent Ari Shapiro joins us. Ari, thanks for being with us.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: My pleasure, Scott.

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It's All Politics
2:56 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Obama U: What Graduation Speeches Say About The President

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

Politics
1:03 am
Fri May 17, 2013

AP Case Adds To Obama Team's Tough Record On Leaks

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
President Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday. He told reporters: "Leaks related to national security can put people at risk."

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 7:34 am

President Obama had a reputation when he took office as a liberal former constitutional lawyer who had condemned Bush-era national security policies.

But he has proven to be even tougher than President George W. Bush on prosecuting national security leaks. The seizure of Associated Press phone records is just the latest example.

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It's All Politics
3:22 pm
Fri April 26, 2013

Democrats Invoke Boston, West To Defend Government's Role

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Last week, FBI investigators and a Watertown, Mass., police officer investigate the scene near the boat where bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding. Democrats have argued that the way the government responded to the Boston attacks makes a case for not cutting too deeply.

Originally published on Fri April 26, 2013 3:23 pm

President Obama has spoken at two memorial services in just over a week — one for victims of the Boston Marathon attack and one for those who died in the chemical plant explosions in West, Texas. In both speeches, he focused on victims and survivors.

But other Democrats are using these events to talk about another subject: the role of government.

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It's All Politics
2:33 pm
Wed April 24, 2013

How Obama's Response To Terrorism Has Shifted

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
President Obama makes a statement in the White House briefing room just a few hours after the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15.

Originally published on Thu April 25, 2013 2:57 pm

President Obama's time in office has not been defined by terrorism as President George W. Bush's was. Yet incidents like the one in Boston have been a regular, painful through line of his presidency.

When a new administration walks into the White House, nobody provides a handbook on how to respond to a terrorist attack. So the Obama administration has been on a steady learning curve.

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Explosions At Boston Marathon
5:01 pm
Thu April 18, 2013

Obama Offers Message Of Resilience After Boston Attacks

Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 8:26 pm

President Obama attended an interfaith service in Boston honoring the victims and survivors of the marathon bombing.

Politics
4:38 pm
Wed April 17, 2013

Obama Criticizes Congress After Background Check Bill Fails

Originally published on Wed April 17, 2013 6:37 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From Boston now to the White House, where President Obama reacted angrily tonight to the failure of an effort in the Senate to expand background checks for gun purchases. The amendment, proposed by Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Pat Toomey, got only 54 votes - six short of the necessary 60. President Obama spoke in the White House Rose Garden. He called this a pretty shameful day for Washington.

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It's All Politics
3:20 pm
Fri April 12, 2013

'We Have To Do More': Michelle Obama's Next Four Years

Credit Nancy Stone / AP
First lady Michelle Obama greets students at Harper High School in Chicago on Wednesday. Twenty-nine current or former Harper students have been shot in the past year, eight of them fatally.

Originally published on Fri April 12, 2013 8:07 pm

This week marked a new step in Michelle Obama's evolution as first lady. In her hometown of Chicago, she delivered one of the most emotional speeches of her career — about kids dying from gun violence.

"I'm not talking about something that's happening in a war zone halfway around the world," she said. "I am talking about what's happening in the city that we call home."

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