Laura Ingraham, Political Lightning Rod

Prime-Time Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2016.

Laura Ingraham is one of a handful of conservative commentators who have earned enduring audiences on the radio and/or television. As host of "The Ingraham Angle," she reaches millions of people every week.

Laura Ingraham was born on June 19, 1964, in Glastonbury, Connecticut. She is of Polish descent on her mother's side and Irish/English descent on her paternal side.

Laura's father, James Frederick Ingraham III, worked throughout his career at Pratt & Whitney, which manufactures engines for commercial, military and general aviation aircraft, space propulsion, and power systems. Laura’s mother Anne was a waitress. The youngest of four children, Laura has three older brothers.

According to Laura:

When I was born, my parents were so happy they had a little girl. But I was a tomboy. I loved to play basketball, baseball, and other sports.

She eventually turned away from sports to entertainment, however.

Like anyone else, Laura learned a lot of life lessons from her parents. Ingraham recalled that her mother Ann said in the 1970s that the parents of flag burners “didn’t teach them about respect.”

Laura Ingraham's 1985 yearbook picture at Dartmouth.

Almost everybody has wild moments as a teen. Laura reportedly had a minor brush with the law in January 1983. There are reports that she was arrested on a shoplifting charge in Hanover, where she was attending Dartmouth. After pleading no contest (nolo contendere), Laura was fined $200 and sentenced to a conditional discharge. Five months later, the criminal case was annulled and her records expunged. Whether or not this is true is unclear, but it is a frequent charge made against Laura by her critics.

At Dartmouth, Laura became editor of the Dartmouth Review. The Editor-in-Chief was Dinesh D’Souza. It was there that Laura first publicly revealed her political views. Laura famously sent an undercover operative into a Dartmouth’s Gay Students Association meeting to record it, and then published a transcript. Ingraham later replaced D-Souza. In fact, the two were engaged at one point, but they broke it off.

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1985 with a BA Russian and English, Laura worked for the Reagan administration. She then went to law school and graduated with a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1991.

Laura Ingraham posed for a 1995 New York Times Magazine cover shoot in a leopard-print miniskirt. 

Laura clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from 1992 to 1993. She then worked for a few years for corporate law firm Skadden Arps.

Laura Ingraham in 1995 (ROBERT A. REEDER/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES).

After that, Laura developed an image as a conservative activist. In 1996, Ingraham and Jay P. Lefkowitz decided to counter the romanticized "Renaissance Weekend" by organizing the "Dark Ages Weekend."

Laura Ingraham has been speaking at engagements for decades (Mark Wilson/Getty Images).

Her image and good looks propelled Laura into stints as a television commentator on MSNBC in 1996 and later on CBS.

Laura's first real breakthrough was when she was named the host of MSNBC program Watch It! in 1998.

Maj. Bryan Gibby, intelligence officer, Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, with Laura Ingraham during a live broadcast of the Laura Ingraham Show at Camp Liberty, Iraq, Feb. 10, 2017 (PJF MILITARY COLLECTION/ALAMY).

Laura parlayed her rising fame into a radio program in April 2001. This obviously was modeled on the successful talk radio programs of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Laura Ingraham became a fixture on radio. For instance, in Los Angeles, she was on the radio for a full decade. Laura began on KPLS from 2002-03; KRLA, 2003-08; KGIL, 2008-09; KFWB, 2009-12. Laura's syndicated show was part of the NewsTalk format at KFWB until early 2012. She continues to do a daily radio show, The Laura Ingraham Show, distributed via Norm Pattiz’ Courtside Entertainment Group.

Laura with Dinesh D’Souza.

Laura returned to television in 2008 when Fox News gave her a show called "The Ingraham Angle." This lasted for only a three-week trial period. However, in 2017 Laura resumed the show in primetime after Megyn Kelly decided to leave the station. The Ingraham Angle currently airs at 10 p.m., right after Sean Hannity. It consistently wins its timeslot and is one of the five highest-rated shows on cable television.

There is absolutely no question that Laura Ingraham has become a lightning rod her for liberal critics. Laura appears to relish her role of provocateur, and goes out of her way - sometimes a bit too far for her own good - to prod her antagonists. Her opponents predictably take the bait, raising Laura's profile even higher. Some Ingraham critics even have attempted to force advertisers to boycott her show, but those boycotts have fizzled and gone nowhere. Laura Ingraham remains one of the top prime-time hosts on the air today.

Laura is said to have dated commentators from both the political left and right. She was engaged to Dinesh D’Souza and also is said to have dated liberals Keith Olbermann and Robert Torricelli.

Laura Ingraham with her children (photo session for 25 October 2017 Washington Post).

Laura lives in McLean, Virginia with her sons Nikolai and Dmitri and daughter Maria. She adopted all three kids, the boys from Russia and the girl from Guatemala.

2018