Did you know that Andrea Mitchell was diagnosed with breast cancer at the height of her career?
So how did the star NBC journalist deal with her cancer diagnosis?
Keep watching to find out.
Andrea Mitchell may have spent her adult life traveling the world interviewing politicians,
but her upbringing was surprisingly humble.
Mitchell was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York.
Her childhood was middle class, with her mother working in an administrative position at the
New York Institute of Technology.
Her father was in the furniture manufacturing business as CEO and founder of the Loroman
Company.
After high school, she left the New York City area and headed to Philly, opting to attend
the University of Pennsylvania.
College is where Mitchell really found her passion.
Thanks to her love of music, she began working on the school radio station to develop a classical
music program, eventually covering national politics and deepening her love of journalism.
The rest is history.
As a foreign correspondent, Andrea Mitchell spends a lot of time on the road.
It's hard, grueling work that's landed its reporters in trouble both at home and abroad.
Sure, that might not be the best pitch to get you to quit your day job and pursue a
career in journalism, but you might change your mind when you see Mitchell's salary.
As of 2021, she's making about $750,000 a year, which likely makes those long hours
worth it.
Mitchell's years of hard work, plus the sales of her book, add up to an estimated net worth
of $5 million.
Mitchell is one of the most respected women in journalism today, but that doesn't mean
that she has consistently been paid equally among her male colleagues.
When interviewing Mitt Romney's senior advisor Barbara Comstock in 2012, Mitchell wasn't
shy about acknowledging that MSNBC paid women less than their male colleagues.
Comstock reportedly said,
"We know here at MSNBC the guys get paid more."
Mitchell replied, "We certainly do."
The journalist told Politico that her comment was taken out of context as she was referring
to the, quote, "industry as a whole."
In 2011, Andrea Mitchell had to take some time away from her busy professional life
to deal with a personal crisis.
Mitchell was going to take a vacation to Wyoming, where she planned on hiking, but canceled
at the last minute when she was diagnosed with cancer.
Mitchell said during an on-air segment,
"I am now among the 1 in 8 women in this country — incredibly 1 in 8 — who have had breast
cancer."
Luckily for Mitchell, the cancer was caught early enough that she had a, quote, "terrific"
prognosis, though she did not elaborate on her treatment plan.
Mitchell explained,
"Mine was discovered during my annual screening just a short time ago.
[...] I'm looking at this as another of life's lessons.
For you women out there and the men who love you, screening matters.
Do it.
This disease can be completely curable if you find it at the right time."
Ten years later, Mitchell spoke with Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Amy Klobuchar on the
field of a charity women's softball game for breast cancer awareness month.
Emphasizing the importance of early detection, Mitchell shared her own story of finding out
she had breast cancer.
Mitchell revealed that her diagnosis came while she was about to interview Congresswoman
Wasserman Shultz at the Iowa caucus.
Mitchell went on to explain:
"I had just flunked my mammogram but had not had a chance to get treatment, I had to go
right to Iowa.
And I looked at her and she said, 'Something's wrong.'
And I said, 'I'm in trouble.'"
The road to true love wasn't necessarily easy for Andrea Mitchell.
After she and her first husband divorced, Mitchell eventually met the true love of her
life, Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
After meeting, Mitchell and Greenspan decided to take things slowly.
It took them 12 years to finally take the plunge and say "I do."
Their lavish wedding was well worth the wait.
Nearly anyone who's anyone in Washington, D.C., was there, including Colin Powell, Barbara
Walters, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who performed the ceremony.
For Greenspan and Mitchell, though, the day was about love, not a "who's who" of D.C.
Attendees noted that the normally stoic Greenspan seemed overcome with emotion that day and
surprised his guests by giving Mitchell a noticeably long kiss during the ceremony.
When it comes to her career, Andrea Mitchell's work ethic is unparalleled.
Mitchell's colleague Kristen Welker told Glamour:
"She is someone who is so passionate, and she perseveres, and she doesn't back down.
She is still the one to beat.
The other reporters would be like, 'Oh, God, Andrea's here, I have got to get to the rope
line.'"
Since beginning her journalism career in college, Mitchell has gone from student reporter to
correspondent at NBC, which is pretty impressive.
To Mitchell, it's all worth it, though, because she truly loves what she does.
Mitchell told Glamour:
"I love journalism on the highest level of working to communicate big ideas and explain
to people how their government is functioning or not functioning, but also just chasing
a lead, a little fact, a nugget to fill out a piece, add some color, find the human interest
angle."
Her passion hasn't gone unnoticed, either.
Mitchell is both highly respected and awarded in her field.
Case in point: in 2019, she won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the News and Documentary
Emmys.
During the ceremony, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences CEO and President
Adam Sharp said of Mitchell:
"For more than 50 years, she has illuminated Americans' understanding of domestic politics
and international affairs, building esteem and trust with colleagues, world leaders,
and most importantly, the viewers she informs.
She is an icon."
Andrea Mitchell has never been one to not speak her mind.
Her tenaciousness got her in a bit of trouble in 2005, when she was forcibly removed from
a Sudanese press conference.
Per the Los Angeles Times, Mitchell was, quote, "dragged" from the room by large, heavily
armed men.
The foreign correspondent was in Sudan to report on Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic trip
to the region.
During a press conference with President Omar al-Bashir, Mitchell reportedly asked him about
his involvement in the "country's violence," and he reportedly did not like the question
very much.
Mitchell asked,
"Why should the U.S. believe the Sudanese government will stop the killing when the
government is still supporting the militia?"
Al-Bashir motioned for his security to remove her, despite cries from U.S. diplomats for
them to let her go.
Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times in an interview:
"It makes me even more determined when dictators and alleged war criminals are not held to
account.
If our government is going to establish a relationship [...] they have to live up to
international standards.
A free press is part of that process."
For what it's worth, Sudan officially apologized to Condoleezza Rice for the incident, though
we imagine Mitchell and al-Bashir still aren't on the best terms.
Andrea Mitchell is definitely one half of a power couple.
While some men might be intimidated by Mitchell's high-powered career and name recognition,
her star power wasn't intimidating to her husband, Alan Greenspan.
While Mitchell was busy reporting on Washington, Greenspan was busy working in it.
He became the head of the Federal Reserve in 1987, a position he held until 2006.
That tenure officially makes him the second-longest serving head of the Federal Reserve to date,
which is pretty impressive.
He notably led the country through one of its most profitable periods of economic "growth
and prosperity in recent decades," according to The New York Times.
Now firmly in his 90s, Greenspan is still very involved in D.C. politics.
He voiced his concern about Trump's presidency and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the state of the economy.
In November 2020, Greenspan explained to CNN that the state of the world made it difficult
to predict what would happen next.
Greenspan told the network:
"I've never seen a particular situation during my professional experience anything like this.
I'm not convinced at all that we have enough information to know how to deal with this
type of problem."
Andrea Mitchell has come into conflict with leaders abroad, but one notable name on her
list was much closer to home.
We're talking about Donald Trump.
"He is completely uneducated about any part of the world."
Throughout his presidency, Mitchell was not shy about criticizing the divisive politician.
While discussing Trump's press policies, Mitchell told Politico:
"I have never seen anything like this where people just flat-out lie.
You know, black is white and white is black, and they mislead you.
It's really disconcerting to see the podium in the White House briefing room being used
to mislead or misdirect or obfuscate."
For his part, Trump once also implied that Mitchell was unprofessionally partisan when
he called her Hillary Clinton's press secretary, so there was no love lost on either side.
Though she's now in her 70s, Andrea Mitchell's career is as busy as ever.
In 2021, she was on location in Israel reporting on Biden's Middle East policies and showing
off the wealth of knowledge she's gained from her long career in foreign journalism.
Speaking with Forbes, Mitchell outlined the stark differences in Biden's Israel policy
and those of his predecessors.
Mitchell explained,
"President Biden chose to work largely behind the scenes, opting for intensive but quiet
diplomacy, to try to limit the duration of the fighting.
Still, there were terrible losses and political costs."
During Trump's presidency, she was critical of many of his Israel initiatives, not least
of which was his celebration of the Abraham Accords, which officially aligned Bahrain
and the United Arab Emirates more closely with Israel.
Mitchell pointed out that both Bahrain and the UAE had been working with Israel for a
long time.
Mitchell said,
"Both countries have quietly dealt with Israel for years, sharing intelligence against Iran,
a common enemy.
But today's agreements open the doors for trade, travel, and tourism.
But it is not Middle East peace."
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