John Phillips Avlon (born January 19, 1973) is an American journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN and was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast from 2013 to 2018. Avlon was previously a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun and chief speechwriter for former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani. Avlon is the author of several books, including Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics (2004), which critically appraises both traditional American centrism and the more recent radical centrism. He also wrote Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America (2010). In January 2017, Avlon published Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations, in which he highlights the history and content of President George Washington's parting treatise to the American people in the context of the contemporary political climate. His most recent book is Lincoln and the Fight for Peace. It is a historical analysis of Lincoln's rebuilding the nation from the Civil War and how those efforts carried on past his assassination. Early life Avlon was born in 1973 to Dianne Alexander (Phillips) and John Jeffrey Avlon, a lawyer and real estate executive with companies in Charleston, South Carolina and New York City. He is of Greek descent, and his grandparents were immigrants. He was educated at Milton Academy, an independent preparatory school in Milton, Massachusetts. He is a childhood friend and schoolmate of Matthew Pottinger. He earned his BA from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia University. Career Avlon started his career as the youngest speechwriter for Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He was promoted to Chief Speechwriter and the Deputy Director of Policy. He prepared the mayor's addresses for the State of the City (1999 through 2001), testimony to Congress on homeland security, and address to the United Nations General Assembly on counterterrorism. He was also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He is an advisory board member of the Citizens Union of New York, Bronx Academy of Letters, and the Theodore Roosevelt Association. Avlon joined The Daily Beast in 2008 one month after its launch. He worked his way up through the organization starting as a columnist and moving on to political editor, executive editor and then managing editor. In 2013 Avlon became editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. By September 2014 the website reached a new record of 21