James Carville (born 25 October 1944) was an American political commentator and media personality who was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party.
Biography[]
James Carville was born in the town of Carville, Louisiana on 25 October 1944, the grandson of the town's namesake postmaster. The Carville family was of Irish carpetbagger descent, while his great-grandmother Octavia Dehon was of Belgian parentage. He graduated from Louisiana State University, served in the US Marine Corps for two years, and worked at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973 to 1979. Carville also became a Democratic Party political operative, working on the campaigns of Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990, Brereton Jones of Kentucky in 1991, and Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania in 1991, working with Paul Begala on these campaigns. In 1992, he served as one of Bill Clinton's campaign managers, and he helped him win the election. Carville also supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy in 2008, supporting her until Barack Obama clinched the party's nomination. Carville became a political science professor at Tulane University, and he married Mary Matalin, a conservative political commentator.