Bret Baier serves as the anchor of Fox News Channel's (FNC) "Special Report with Bret Baier," the number one news program on cable (6-7 p.m. ET). Before assuming this role, which he took over for Brit Hume in January of 2009, Baier served as chief White House correspondent, where he reported on presidential activities on a national and international level from 2006-2009.
Prior to being named chief White House correspondent, Baier served as national security correspondent and reported on military and national security affairs, as well as defense, military policy and the intelligence community from the Pentagon from 2001-2006. Baier has reported from Iraq 12 times and from Afghanistan 13 times, most recently in March 2011. He has traveled internationally with various administration and military officials and on his own -– reporting from 74 different countries.
Throughout his career, Baier has secured numerous exclusive interviews with government officials. He conducted the only interview with President Obama during the week leading up to the historic health care vote in the House of Representatives in March 2010. Additionally, Baier has interviewed former President George W. Bush during his presidency and afterwards; former Vice President Cheney; former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers and his successor General Peter Pace. He has also interviewed several world leaders -– including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in anticipation of key peace talks at the United Nations, Polish President Lech Kaczynski days after the U.S. decision to abort missile defense plans in Poland, and Georgian President Mikheul Saakashvili after the Russian invasion of Georgia. In addition, Baier had an exclusive sit-down with General David Petraeus -- his final interview as the head of U.S. operations -- live from Iraq in September 2008; and conducted General Petraeus' only interview leading up to his Congressional testimony about the Afghanistan troop decisions in March 2011.
Baier has also anchored several political specials on FNC, including one-hour programs on the stimulus package, the bank bailout, the housing crisis, cap-and-trade legislation, the first year of the Obama presidency and the importance of Iowa in 2012. Additionally, he anchored election specials throughout the 2008 campaign from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and contributed to election night coverage from New York. The 2010 Midterm election coverage, anchored by Baier and Megyn Kelly, was the most-watched on cable. In May 2011, Baier moderated the first Republican presidential debate in South Carolina as well as four additional FNC debates throughout the 2012 primary season. He has anchored 2012 primary coverage for FNC and will report live from both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention ahead of the November general election.
Baier joined FNC in 1998 as the first reporter based out of the Atlanta bureau. As the network's Southeast correspondent, Baier covered stories ranging from the Timothy McVeigh execution to Elian Gonzalez. He also provided a series of reports from Cuba and covered more than a dozen hurricanes, including stories filed from the centers of the storms.
Prior to joining FNC, Baier worked for WRAL-TV (CBS) in Raleigh, NC; WREX-TV (NBC) in Rockford, IL; and WJWJ-TV (PBS) in Beaufort, SC.
A graduate of DePauw University, Baier holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science and English. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Washington, D.C. with their two young sons.
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