Journalist Daniel J. Balz was born in Freeport, Illinois and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from the University of Illinois. After serving in the army from 1968 to 1971, he worked for National Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Since 1978 Balz has worked for The Washington Post as a political correspondent. He co-authored The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election.
Hanyes Bonner Johnson was born in 1931 in New York City. He earned his bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri and his Master's in American History from the University of Wisconsin. Johnson served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished national reporting in 1966 for his coverage of the civil rights crisis in Selma, Alabama and he is widely regarded as one of the nation's top political commentators. Haynes Johnson is the author or editor of a number of books including bestsellers "Sleepwalking Through History", "The Bay of Pigs", "The Landing", and "The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an… Extraordinary Election".