"I think viewers are so tired of cookie-cuttor anchors with perfect diction and haircuts that there's a growing market for television journalists who seem like real human beings, and Anderson Cooper is in that mold", Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz explains. Cooper's boss at CNN, Jonathan Klein, agrees. "He brings a new dimension to the job, which is a concept of an anchor as a kind of missionary."

In May 2006, Cooper published Dispatches from the Edge, a memoir detailing his work in Sri Lanka, Africa, Iraq, and Louisiana. It topped the New York Times Best Seller list on June 18, 2006 and donated much of its proceeds to charity. He would later publish The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss with his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, in 2016. It debuted at the top of the New York Times Best-Sellers list and remained there for three months.

In 2007, Cooper signed a multi-year deal with CNN that doubled his salary and secured him a contributing position on 60 Minutes. He also began hosting CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute and Planet in Peril that same year. Although the daytime talk show Anderson was cancelled in 2013, Anderson Cooper 360 continues.

In 2016, Cooper moderated the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He thus became the first openly gay person to moderate a presidential debate. 

Awards

Anderson Cooper 360 has brought in many accolades including Emmy Awards, DuPont Awards, Peabody Awards, National Headliners Awards, and GLAAD Awards. While he was at ABC, Cooper was honored with an Emmy for his reporting on the funeral of Princess Diana. He also received a Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival for reporting on the Bosnian Civil War. 

He helped CNN earn a Peabody Award for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and a DuPont award following the 2004 tsunami. Ultimately, Cooper has been awarded sixteen Emmy Awards and an Edward R. Murrow award.

Personal Life

Cooper is openly gay, and according to the New York Times, "is the most prominent openly gay journalist on American television." For several years he avoided discussing his personal life. "You know, I understand why people might be interested. But I just don't talk about my personal life", he tells New York Magazine. "It's a decision I made a long time ago, before I ever even know anyone would be interested in my personal life. The whole thing about being a reported is that you're supposed to be an observer and to be able to adapt with any group you're in, and I don't want to do anything that threatens that." Ultimately, Cooper allowed the following to be published on July 2, 2012: "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

Cooper dated Benjamin Maisani, a nightclub mogul, for quite some time, before announcing the end of the relationship in March of 2018. "Benjamin and I separated as boyfriends some time ago", he told PEOPLE magazine. "We are still family to each other and love each other very much. We remain the best of friends and will continue to share much of our lives together."

When asked how he balances life on-air and off-air, Cooper responded "I don't really have a life off-air. It all blends together."

Cooper's Facebook, @andersoncooper, has over 890,000 followers. His Twitter, @andersoncooper, has over 10 million followers. His Instagram, @andersoncooper, has more than 1.6 million followers.