Helene Cooper
Leslie Cashen
Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent with The New York Times. Prior to this assignment, she covered the White House and was The Times’s diplomatic correspondent. She joined the newspaper in 2004 as the assistant editorial page editor, a position she held for two years before she ran out of opinions and returned to news. She has reported from 64 countries, from Pakistan to the Congo.
Previously, Helene worked for 12 years at the Wall Street Journal, where she was a foreign correspondent, reporter and editor, working in the London, Washington and Atlanta bureaus. She is the winner of the Raymond Clapper award for Washington reporting (2000), the Sandy Hume award for best reporter under the age of 35 (2001), the Missouri Lifestyle award for feature writing (2002), a National Association of Black Journalists award for feature writing (2004), and the Urbino Press Award for foreign reporting (2011).
Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Helene is the author of “The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood” (Simon and Schuster), a New York Times best seller and a National Books Critics Circle finalist in autobiography in 2009. In 2009 and 2010, she appeared on the TV quiz show, “Jeopardy!,” as a clue. She has also appeared on “Meet the Press,” “Washington Week,” “The Tavis Smiley Show,” “The Chris Matthews Show” and “This Week.”
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Featured Articles
In Search of a Lost Africa
Her idyllic childhood was shattered by a violent civil war. Her return from exile revealed what she had, and had not, left behind.
April 6, 2008 magazineNews
African Idyll
The Times’s Helene Cooper fled a warring Liberia as a child. In this memoir, she returns to confront the ghosts of her past -- and to find a lost sister.
September 7, 2008 booksReviewThe Saturday Profile
The Adviser at the Heart of National Security
Denis McDonough, the National Security Council’s chief of staff, is so close to the president that colleagues will often not make a major move without checking with him.
July 10, 2010 worldBiography
China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit
President Obama was confronted, on his first visit, with a fast-rising China more willing to say no to the U.S.
November 18, 2009 worldNewsU.S. Military Says Its Force in Afghanistan Is Insufficient
Despite the addition of 17,000 U.S. troops and extra security for the presidential election, the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating.
August 24, 2009 worldNewsThe Caucus
Obama’s Red Carpet
A president plays first greeter to the leaders of the world.
September 24, 2009 blogsWeb LogArticles by Helene Cooper
Joint Chiefs Chairman Urges 21-Day Quarantine for Troops Working in Ebola Zone
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey’s recommendation comes a day after the C.D.C. issued new guidelines on how civilian health workers should be treated on their return to the United States.
October 29, 2014, Wednesday
Seeking Unity, U.S. Revises Ebola Monitoring Rules
The federal government announced guidelines that stopped short of tough measures in New York and New Jersey, while the Pentagon appeared to be setting its own course.
October 28, 2014, Tuesday
Reporter's Notebook
In Homeland, Liberia Native Finds Resilience Amid Horror
Long before Ebola arrived, the people of Liberia endured 14 years of civil war. When it finally ended in 2003, what was left was a nation of survivors.
October 20, 2014, Monday
U.S. Commander Reports Heavy ISIS Losses in Syrian City of Kobani
The head of the United States Central Command indicated that even if the Islamic State managed to take Kobani, the victory would be costly to the group.
October 18, 2014, Saturday
ISIS Militants in Syrian Border Town Begin to Retreat After a Monthlong Battle
The advance of Islamic State forces on Kobani, Syria, has stalled as the militants have been forced to retreat on several fronts, shifting the monthlong battle in favor of the Kurdish fighters defending the city.
October 18, 2014, Saturday
Biden’s Son ‘Embarrassed’ Over Navy Ouster
Hunter Biden, the younger son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., is said to have failed a drug test for using cocaine and was discharged this year from the Navy Reserve.
October 17, 2014, Friday
Amid Ebola Crisis, Liberian Army Sees Its Chance at Rebranding
The Liberian Army, working alongside American troops, has become a linchpin in the fight against the Ebola virus. But it faces a wary public.
October 12, 2014, Sunday
Reporter's Notebook
In Travel Out of Liberia, Nothing Is Simply Routine
A reporter takes the same route from Liberia to the United States as Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who, after traveling on to Dallas, fell to the disease.
October 12, 2014, Sunday
Ebola’s Cultural Casualty: Hugs in Hands-On Liberia
As Ebola ravages West Africa, Liberians are losing an integral part of their culture, in which the double-cheek kiss was once the standard greeting.
October 5, 2014, Sunday
U.S. Aid Effort in Liberia Barely Off the Ground as Ebola Rages
The American promise to build 18 Ebola treatment centers has been stalled by, among other things, broken equipment and numerous holes on an airport runway.
October 3, 2014, Friday
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