Education

His first education was at a Hebrew School, which was also attended by his brother. In 1970, he graduated from the McGill University in Montreal, where he came out with First Class Honors in both political and economic science. During his days at McGill University, he was the center point of radical sentiment and this gave him a distaste of political extremism. Following his graduation from McGill, he studied as a Commonwealth Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford. Following his time at Oxford, he attended Harvard Medical School. During his first year of medical school, he was injured in a diving accident. While diving into a pool, his head struck the bottom and severed his cervical vertebrae. This injury left him permanently paralyzed from the neck down. Since this accident he has required use of a wheel chair. Despite this injury, he graduated from Harvard in 1975. Between 1975 and 1978, Krauthammer completed his residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. He served as the chief resident in his final year.  During his residency, he authored several published studies on mania.

Career

Krauthammer moved to Washington D.C. in 1978.  He helped to direct psychiatric research for Jimmy Carter’s administration. During his first years in Washington he began writing.  He wrote speeches for Walter Mondale’s failed presidential bid in 1980.  He also began writing for The New Republic and Time magazine.  His 1983 Time article on “the Reagan Doctrine” elevated his status as a political commentator. The term became popular and is still referred to today in political circles.

Despite the shift to political writing, he was board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology though he does not practice.

He began writing for the Washington Post in 1985.  His work for the Post won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1987.  He continues to write a column for the Washington Post to this day.  He began working for PBS’s Inside Washington in 1990 as a weekly panelist. He continued with the program from 1990 to 2013. In 2006, Krauthammer joined Fox News as a contributor.   He has been a regular on Fox News evening program Special Report since he began with the network.

Cold War

In his 1983 column on the “Reagan Doctrine”, Krauthammer expressed his views on American Cold War policy.  He advocated for Reagan’s policy on not only stopping the spread of communism, but of pushing it back from where it had spread.   These views represent what he believed was both an application of idealism and realism. 

Israel

Krauthammer has frequently expressed his views on the Israeli Palestinian conflict.  He was an opponent of the Oslo Accords, as he was suspicious of Yasir Arafat’s intentions.  He has asserted in the past the lack of progress in any negotiations between the two sides has had much to do with Palestinian reluctance to accept any type of compromise.