Tucker Carlson tried to join the CIA


Fox News' Tucker Carlson was never any good at school. The conservative firebrand only managed to get into Trinity College, in Hartford, after his boarding school's headmaster — the father of his then-girlfriend and now wife — pulled some strings on his behalf.
Today, Carlson is the host of the popular Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, which draws even more viewers than Megyn Kelly did when she previously held his 9 p.m. time slot. Despite being a household name for the right-leaning network, Carlson is technically a registered Democrat. He says it is so he can vote in D.C.'s predominately Democratic primaries.
But as The New Yorker reveals, it took Carlson many years — and a few stumbles, including a failed attempt to join the CIA — to get from Trinity to television screens across the country:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After college, [Carlson] tried and failed to persuade the CIA to employ him; the real-life agency, unlike its fictional counterparts, prefers not to hire young men who are gabby and insubordinate. Instead, he got a job in Little Rock, working for Paul Greenberg, the exacting editorial-page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. [The New Yorker]
Read more about Carlson, including his attempt to name his son "Flashman," at The New Yorker.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Cider farms to visit this autumn
The Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the US
Under the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
Crossword: September 15, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school mass
Speed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'