Jonathan H. Alter (born October 6, 1957) is a liberal / progressive American journalist, best-selling author, documentary filmmaker and television producer who was a columnist and senior editor for Newsweek magazine from 1983 until 2011, and has written three New York Times best-selling books about American presidents. He is a contributing correspondent to NBC News, where since 1996 he has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. Alter was one of the first magazine or newspaper reporters to appear on MSNBC. When the shows were on the air, he could often be heard on Imus in the Morning and The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio. In 2013 and 2014, Alter served as an executive producer on the Amazon Studio's production Alpha House, which starred John Goodman, Mark Consuelos, Clark Johnson, and Matt Malloy. In 2019, he co-produced and co-directed "Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists," a documentary about the columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, which is available on HBO. Alter is the author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, a national bestseller published by Simon & Schuster in 2006, and Between the Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People and Culture, a collection of twenty years' worth of his columns published by Borders Books. His 2010 book is The Promise: President Obama, Year One, published by Simon & Schuster, a behind-the-scenes look at Obama's eventful debut. The Promise was a New York Times Best Seller, reaching #3 on the list at its peak. Alter's new book on President Obama, The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies, was released on June 4, 2013. "The Center Holds" debuted on the New York Times Best Sellers list on June 23, 2013.A veteran of Chicago politics, Alter has known President Obama and his closest confidantes for as long as nearly any national columnist, having published the first national magazine cover story on Obama in Newsweek's 2004 "Who's Next Issue."Alter currently hosts a radio show with his children, one of whom is a writer for Time and one who is a producer for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on SIRIUS channel 102 called Alter Family Politics. The show is part of Andy Cohen's new 24-hour network, Radio Andy.