Jim VandeHei


James VandeHei is the co-founder and CEO of Axios and the former executive editor and co-founder of Politico. Previously, he was a national political reporter at The Washington Post, where he worked as White House correspondent.

Life and career

VandeHei was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and graduated from Lourdes High School in 1989. In 1995, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh with a double major in journalism and political science. As an undergraduate, he interned at in Brillion, WI the summer of 1993, and with Democratic Senator Herb Kohl in 1994, which led to his decision to become a political journalist.
After working as a sports reporter for the Oshkosh Northwestern, VandeHei moved to Washington, D.C. In 1995, began working for Inside Washington Publishers. In 1996, he was hired by "Inside the New Congress," a weekly newsletter that focuses on the House and Senate. In 1997, he began working as a reporter for Roll Call, which covers Capitol Hill. While at Roll Call, VandeHei broke the story of House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston's affairs in 1998. He was the first to report in 1998 that Republicans were formally planning to impeach Bill Clinton.
After a stint as a national political reporter for The Wall Street Journal in 2000, VandeHei joined The Washington Post.
VandeHei's work has appeared in Capital Style and The New Republic. He has appeared as a pundit on television shows on all the major networks.
In 2006, VandeHei left The Washington Post to found a new political publication, Politico.
In early 2016, it was announced that VandeHei was leaving Politico after the presidential elections. In April he abruptly left, prior to his previously stated departure date and penned a piece in The Information about the current vapid state of media, the downward spiral of chasing clicks, and the future vision for media.

Personal life

He is married to Autumn Hanna VandeHei, a former staffer for House Republican Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. They have two children and reside in Alexandria, Virginia.