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{{short description|American conservative political pundit and journalist}}
{{advert|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Ramesh Ponnuru
|image=Ramesh Ponnuru at U.S. embassy in Vienna.jpg
|caption=Ponnuru in 2016
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1974|8|16}}
|birth_place=[[Prairie Village, Kansas]]
|education=[[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
|occupation= [[Columnist]] and [[Editing|Editor]]
|title= [[Senior editor]]
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse=April Ponnuru
|credits=''[[The Party of Death]]'' (2006)
}}
'''Ramesh Ponnuru''' ({{IPAc-en|r|ə|ˈ|m|ɛ|ʃ|_|p|ə|ˈ|n|ʊər|uː}}; born August 16, 1974) is an American [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[political pundit]] and journalist. A visiting fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]] since 2012,<ref name="Ramesh Ponnuru, Visiting Fellow">{{cite web|url=http://www.aei.org/scholar/ramesh-ponnuru |title=Ramesh Ponnuru, Visiting Fellow |website=AEI.org |accessdate=3 November 2020}}</ref> he is also a senior editor for ''[[National Review]]'' magazine, a columnist for ''[[Bloomberg View]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AQeRCLSgi-0/ramesh-ponnuru |title=Ramesh Ponnuru Archive |website=Bloomberg View |accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> and a [[contributing editor]] to the domestic policy journal ''[[National Affairs]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalaffairs.com/about_us |title=About Us |website=National Affairs |accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref>

Ponnuru has written on wide array of political and policy topics, appeared on numerous public affairs and news interview programs, and is a widely respected voice on conservative policy.<ref name="Politico50">{{cite news|title=April Ponnuru, Ramesh Ponnuru (Politico 50)|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/politico50/2015/april-ponnuru-ramesh-ponnuru|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=POLITICO Magazine|date=2015}}</ref> In recent years, his profile has risen even higher and he has been widely praised for breaking with his party with his highly informed and uncompromising criticism of [[President Donald Trump]], saying his conscience would not let him do otherwise. In 2015, ''[[Politico | Politico Magazine]]'' listed both him and his wife, April Ponnuru, as two of the "Politico 50" influential leaders in American politics. It has been the first and only time ever that a husband and wife appeared on the list at the same time.<ref name="Politico50" />

== Early life and education ==
Ponnuru was raised in [[Prairie Village, Kansas]], a suburb of [[Kansas City Metropolitan Area|Kansas City, MO]], where he attended Briarwood Elementary School (Prairie Village, Kansas) and Mission Valley Middle School. After graduating from [[Shawnee Mission East High School]], at the age of 16, he went on to attend [[Princeton University]], where he earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in history and graduated ''[[summa cum laude]]'' in 1995. He completed a 107-page long [[senior thesis]], titled "Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America, in Brief", under the supervision of [[Robert P. George]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ponnuru|first=Ramesh|editor-last=George|editor-first=Robert Peter|editor2-last=Princeton University. Department of History|title=Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America, in Brief|url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/dsp01qr46r208g|language=English}}</ref> Raised by a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] father and a [[Lutheran Church|Lutheran]] mother,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features/rameshponnuru_oct04.asp |title=Catholic and Conservative: A Conversation with Ramesh Ponnuru |website=Ignatiusinsight.com |date= |accessdate=25 May 2016}}</ref> Ponnuru is of [[India|Asian Indian]] descent. Ponnuru converted to [[Catholicism]] from [[agnostic]]ism later in life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2006/06/20060615_b_main.asp |title=Archived copy |accessdate=5 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416055656/http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2006/06/20060615_b_main.asp |archivedate=April 16, 2007 }}</ref> He is married to April Ponnuru.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nrinstitute.org/staff.php |title=Archived copy |accessdate= 21 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130014128/http://nrinstitute.org/staff.php |archivedate=January 30, 2009 }}</ref>

==Career==
===Journalism===
Since 1999, Ponnuru has been either a [[senior fellow]] or [[senior editor]], or both at the same time, at ''National Review'', where he frequently writes and comments on politics, public policy, economics, the law, and even faith.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/author/ramesh-ponnuru |title=Ramesh Ponnuru Archive|magazine=National Review |accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> In its pages, he has called for a revival of Republican policy thinking by applying conservative ideals to contemporary problems and emphasizing the concerns of the middle class. He has been a leading conservative voice in making the case for increasing the [[child tax credit]] to properly compensate parents for the cost of raising children, and won praise for finding common ground with progressives and Democrats on the issue.<ref name="Ramesh Ponnuru, Visiting Fellow"/><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.nationalreview.com/article/301108/empty-playground-and-welfare-state-ramesh-ponnuru|title = The Empty Playground and the Welfare State|date = May 28, 2012|work = National Review|access-date = 10 August 2016}}</ref> He has also been a regular co-author and leading voice with economist David Beckworth on the topic of [[monetary policy]] and [[market monetarism]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Beckworth|first1=David|last2=Ponnuru|first2=Ramesh|title=Monetary Regime Change|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/300951/monetary-regime-change|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=National Review|issue=28 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Ponnuru|first1=Ramesh|last2=Beckworth|first2=David|title=Savers' Real Problem|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/397460/savers-real-problem-ramesh-ponnuru-david-beckworth|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=National Review|issue=2 February 2015}}</ref>

Ponnuru appears frequently on a diverse array of television programs about public affairs, among them ''[[Meet the Press]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the Press, 21 September 2014|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/meet-the-press/ponnuru-on-mtp-distancing-from-president-never-works-331747907650|publisher=NBC|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> ''[[Face the Nation]]'', ''[[C-Span]]'', the ''[[PBS NewsHour]]'', National Public Radio's ''[[All Things Considered]]'', ABC News' ''[[This Week with George Stephanopoulos]]'', ''[[ABC News]]''. ''[[The Daily Show]]'' (at that time, hosted by [[Jon Stewart]]), and ''[[The Colbert Report]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Face the Nation, 22 May 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-3oLSvenc|publisher=CBS News|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref>

He has also been a regular guest speaker on policy, politics, and [[constitutionalism]] at college campuses and law schools across the country,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Future of the Republican Party|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aahxoo6o95Q|website=YouTube|publisher=Program on Constitutional Government, Harvard|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Beyond Obamanomics|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f_qX84MAOs|website=YouTube|publisher=Ashbrook Center|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> In 2013, he was a fellow at the [[University of Chicago]]’s [[University of Chicago Institute of Politics|Institute of Politics]]. The Institute's website has described "the Fellows" as "a dynamic and distinguished group of political practitioners and journalists who will lead seminars and interact with UChicago students and faculty."<ref>{{cite web|title=Getting to Know UChicago Institute of Politics Fall 2013 Fellow Ramesh Ponnuru|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHSQnEq6Oms|website=YouTube|publisher=University of Chicago Institute of Politics|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref>

In 2006, Ponnuru wrote ''[[The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life]]''.
Provocatively titled on purpose, Ponnuru himself has explained, the volume is Ponnuru's exposition on such right to life issues as abortion and euthanasia, concentrating on the circumstances of the United States Democratic Party's shift from anti-abortion to abortion rights. The book was met with near universal favorable reviews. [[Peggy Noonan]] celebrated the book as "the most significant statement of the need to protect human life in America since Ronald Reagan’s ''Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation''.

''[[National Review Online]]'' [[Editor at Large]] [[Jonah Goldberg]], wrote: "Ponnuru scrupulously sticks to nonreligious arguments, accessible to everyone. But that hasn’t stopped critics from charging that his motives are unacceptably 'religious,' while others have complained Ponnuru is too coldly rational. Again it seems Ponnuru’s real sin isn’t how he says things, but that he says them at all."<ref>[https://archive.is/20120712135830/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjAyNzRlNDU3NmQ3ZjQwYWI1MTAyOTg2OTVjY2Y3NmU Abortion Rhymes with Death] Goldberg, J. 2006-06-16</ref>

[[John Derbyshire]] wrote in ''[[The New English Review]]'': "[[Right to life|RTL]] is made as presentable as possible in ''Party of Death'', with writing that is engaging and lucid.... (Right to Lifers) are welcoming ''Party of Death'' very joyfully, though, and they are right to do so, as it is an exceptionally fine piece of polemical writing in support of their... cause.... ''Party of Death'' is obviously inspired by religious belief. The philosophical passages strictly follow the [[Golden Rule]] of religious apologetics, which is: The conclusion is known in advance, and the task of the intellectual is to erect supporting arguments."<ref>[http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?frm=3190&sec_id=3190 A Frigid and Pitiless Dogma] Derbyshire, J. June, 2006.</ref>

In a sharp, but measured response to accusations that Ponnuru had an overtly religious viewpoint in approaching the abortion issue, he forcefully addressed the issue himself head on: "I have made a show of reasoning, but my conclusions have all rather conveniently lined up with the teachings of my church.... For the record, my views on abortion have not changed since I was an agnostic.... It is true that I am a Catholic. It is also true that I believe that my church’s teaching on abortion is reasonable, sound, and correct. It is because I came to believe that Catholicism is true, after all, that I became a Catholic. If I didn’t believe Catholic teachings were true, I wouldn’t be a Catholic."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ponnuru |first1=Ramesh |title=Unreason: John Derbyshire vs. pro-lifers |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2006/06/unreason-ramesh-ponnuru/ |website=National Review Online |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807011543/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjFmMjRiNGI4Y2RhZjY5YjNlOGY0MjU4YzI0OTZkNmU |archivedate=2007-08-07 |url-status=live |date=2006-06-07}}</ref>

Ponnuru has also been the author of a highly influential monograph on Japanese industrial policy, published jointly by the [[American Enterprise Institute]] and [[Center for Policy Studies]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Mystery of Japanese Growth|date=1995|publisher=American Enterprise Institute / Center for Policy Studies|isbn=0844739391|url=https://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111027153606-TheMysteryofJapeneseGrowth1995.pdf}}</ref>

Ponnuru is a past contributor to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' and [[The Washington Post|WashingtonPost.com]]. He has also written for other such national publications as ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Why Hillary Should Fear Optimism|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/opinion/campaign-stops/why-hillary-should-fear-optimism.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=30 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Beckworth|first1=David|last2=Ponnuru|first2=Ramesh|title=Subprime Reasoning on Housing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/opinion/subprime-reasoning-on-housing.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=27 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Let's Not Mention Inequality|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/opinion/lets-not-mention-inequality.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=9 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Updating Reaganomics|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/opinion/updating-reaganomics.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=17 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Year of the (Pro-Life) Woman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/opinion/13ponnuru.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=12 June 2010}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'', ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304448204579182203093952642 | last1=Ponnuru|first1=Ramesh|last2=Levin|first2=Yuval|title=A Conservative Alternative to ObamaCare|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|issue=14 November 2013}}</ref> ''[[Financial Times]]'', ''[[Newsday]]'', ''[[New York Post]]'', ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'', ''[[Policy Review]]'', ''[[The New Republic]]'', and ''[[First Things]]'',
an ecumenical and conservative religious journal.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Gift of Lightheartedness|url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/04/020-the-gift-of-lightheartedness|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=First Things|issue=April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=What McGovern Wrought|url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/03/003-what-mcgovern-wrought|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=First Things|issue=March 2008, Review of "Why the Democrats Are Blue: Secular Liberalism and the Decline of the People’s Party," by Mark Stricherz}}</ref>

===Policy===
Ponnuru has been a much sought after speaker on conservative policy and its political implications; among other venues he has regularly been a featured guest at retreats for congressional Republicans.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sherman|first1=Jake|last2=Everett|first2=Burgess|title=GOP retreat: A busy schedule|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/gop-retreat-114272|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=Politico|issue=14 January 2015}}</ref>

Ponnuru has often been identified as a leader of the "reform conservative" movement,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Douthat|first1=Ross|title=What Is Reform Conservatism?|url=http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/what-is-reform-conservatism/?_r=0|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=New York Times|issue=30 May 2015}}</ref> and was prominently featured in a 2014 ''[[New York Times Magazine]]'' cover story about the conservative intellectuals who comprise it. The ''Times''' [[Sam Tanenhaus]] described Ponnuro as one of a small group of young conservative Republicans, who, each one, "was an intellectual prodigy in his 30s" who together had "become the leaders of a small band of reform conservatives, sometimes called reformicons, who believe the health of the G.O.P. hinges on jettisoning its age-old doctrine — orgiastic tax-cutting, the slashing of government programs, the championing of Wall Street — and using an altogether different vocabulary, backed by specific proposals, that will reconnect the party to middle-class and low-income voters."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tanenhaus|first1=Sam|title=Can the G.O.P. Be a Party of Ideas?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/can-the-gop-be-a-party-of-ideas.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=2 July 2014}}</ref>

In 2014, Ponnuru co-edited, with [[Yuval Levin]], ''Room to Grow: Conservative Reforms for a Limited Government and a Thriving Middle Class,''<ref>{{cite book|title=Room to Grow|date=2014|publisher=Conservative Reform Network|url=http://conservativereform.com/roomtogrow/|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> a reform conservative manifesto and policy agenda. (Ponnuru also contributed the book's concluding chapter, on [[constitutionalism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Room to Grow|date=2014|publisher=Conservative Reform Network|url=http://conservativereform.com/recovering-wisdom-constitution/|chapter=Recovering the Wisdom of the Constitution | accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref>) The book was widely praised, with ''New York Times'' columnist [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]] describing it as a "policy-laden manifesto... which is the most coherent and compelling policy agenda the American right has produced this century."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brooks|first1=David|title=The New Right|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/opinion/brooks-the-new-right.html|accessdate=10 August 2016|work=The New York Times|issue=9 June 2014}}</ref>

Ponnuru's collaboration with Levin also won widespread praise for both men because of Levin's own high standing in the conservative movement: Levin has been called "probably the most influential conservative intellectual of the Obama era" by [[Jonathan Chait]] of ''[[New York Magazine]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Chait|first=Jonathan|title=The Facts Are In and Paul Ryan Is Wrong|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/facts-are-in-and-paul-ryan-is-wrong.html|work=New York|accessdate=10 May 2013}}</ref> while the left leaning ''[[The New Republic]]'' has described Levin as "the conservative movement’s great intellectual hope" and has said that "despite his youth, Levin had been anointed the next great neoconservative."<ref name="babykristol">{{cite news |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/112745/yuval-levin-rights-new-irving-kristol |title=Baby Kristol |last=Tracy |first=Mark |work=[[The New Republic]] |date=March 25, 2013 |accessdate=February 9, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.nationalreview.com/author/ramesh-ponnuru/ ''National Review'' biography and archive]
* [http://www.aei.org/scholar/ramesh-ponnuru AEI fellow page]
* [https://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AQeRCLSgi-0/ramesh-ponnuru ''Bloomberg View'' column archive]
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/search/?participant1=Ponnuru,%20Ramesh Video debates featuring Ponnuru] on [[Bloggingheads.tv]]
* {{C-SPAN|rameshponnuru}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponnuru, Ramesh}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Prairie Village, Kansas]]
[[Category:American columnists]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism]]
[[Category:Writers from Missouri]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:National Review people]]
[[Category:Writers from Kansas]]
[[Category:Catholics from Kansas]]

Ramesh Ponnuru - Revision history

imported>SdkbBot: /* Policy */removed erroneous space