James Carville

About James Carville

James Carville (born October 25, 1944) is an American Former U.S. Marine, political consultant, commentator, actor, media personality and pundit. Known as the Ragin' Cajun, Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. Carville was the co-host of CNN's Crossfire until its final broadcast in June 2005. Since its cancellation, he has appeared on CNN's news program, The Situation Room. As of 2006, he hosts a weekly program on XM Radio titled 60/20 Sports with Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert who hosted NBC's Meet The Press. He is married to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin.

Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born Chester James Carville, Jr. at Fort Benning, Georgia, the son of Lucille (née Norman), a former school teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedias door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. He has Irish and Cajun ancestry. James Carville attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, LA. Carville speaks with a distinct Louisiana dialect, which coupled with his quick and fiery rhetoric made him a charismatic manager of underdog political candidates and a mediagenic commentator during the Clinton Administration. Before entering politics, Carville worked as a litigator at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973-1979, spent 2 years serving in the U.S. Marines, and worked as a high school teacher. He graduated from Louisiana State University with an undergraduate and law degree. Carville is married to Republican political pundit Mary Matalin, who had worked for President George H.W. Bush on his 1992 reelection campaign. Carville and Matalin were married in New Orleans in October 1993. They have two daughters: Matalin Mary "Matty" Carville and Emerson Normand "Emma" Carville. In 2008, Carville and Matalin relocated their family to New Orleans.

Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala gained other well-known political victories, including the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986 , and Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990 . But it was in 1991 when Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading appointed incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. Also noteworthy is that Wofford's campaign was where the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented. Carville has since stopped working on domestic campaigns, stating that he would bring unneeded publicity, but he has worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2002, Carville worked to help American-educated Bolivian Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada win the presidency in Bolivia.