Mark Levin: Education, Career, and Personal Life
Mark Levin is a prominent American lawyer, author, and radio personality known for his conservative political commentary. This article explores his educational background, career highlights, and personal life.
Early Life and Education
Mark Reed Levin was born on September 21, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family. He grew up in Erdenheim and Elkins Park. His father, Jack E. Levin, was an author.
Levin graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1974 after completing three years. Skipping his senior year, he enrolled at Temple University Ambler, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science in 1977 at age 19. His interest in politics led him to pursue this field of study.
In 1980, Levin earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.
Early Career
After graduating law school, Levin worked for the Texas Instruments legal department.
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Political and Legal Career
Levin's career includes serving as a chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese during the Reagan administration. Beginning in 1981, Levin worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan.
After leaving the Reagan administration, Levin practiced law in the private sector. He then became president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, a non-profit organization, where he received an annual salary of more than $300,000. In 2000, Levin filed a legal complaint with the ‘Federal Election Commission,’ accusing the ‘National Education Association’ of not disclosing the expenses incurred by them on political activities. The same complaint was filed against the ‘Department of Labor.’ He thus fulfilled his duties as a supporter of the conservative ideology, which earned him a ‘Ronald Reagan Award’ in 2001.
Radio and Television Career
Levin began his broadcasting career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. He was a contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show and later featured in Sean Hannity's radio show.
In 2002, Levin gained a radio slot of his own on WABC, initially on Sundays, then in the timeslot following Hannity's program in 2003. This led to the creation of "The Mark Levin Show," which gained a large following. The radio program immediately gained a massive fan following. It featured Mark as a hardcore right-wing nationalist. He used his radio program to collect aid for the families of fallen American soldiers. In February 2016, when his contract ended, he signed another contract, allowing him to remain with the show for 10 more years. In November 2018, he was inducted into the ‘National Radio Hall of Fame.’
Since 2014, Levin has been the founding editor-in-chief of Conservative Review, a multi-platform online television network that later merged with Glenn Beck's terrestrial network TheBlaze in 2018 to form Blaze Media.
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In November 2017, Fox News announced that it had signed Levin for a weekend show titled Life, Liberty & Levin to air on Sunday nights beginning in February 2018. The program explores "the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation's future and everyday lives of citizens." Episodes feature one or two guests for the hour-long program discussing political events, news, and history.
Author and Commentator
Levin is the author of several New York Times bestselling books:
- Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America (2005): Levin argues that activist judges on the Supreme Court have "legislated from the bench."
- Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (2009): This book became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks. The book includes discussion of issues Levin believes need to be addressed in the United States. In Liberty and Tyranny Levin repudiates the use of the term "progressive" to describe "modern Liberals", and argues that "statist" would instead be a proper term. Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher.
- Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (2012): Levin discusses the origins and development of modern conservative and liberal political philosophies.
- The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic (2013): He suggests eleven new Constitutional amendments. The book debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
- Unfreedom of the Press (2019): This book became the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com three days before its official release, as a result of pre-order sales. Unfreedom of the Press also became a New York Times #1 best-seller on June 6, 2019, in the combined print & e-book nonfiction and hardcover nonfiction categories.
- American Marxism (2021)
- The Democrat Party Hates America (2023)
- On Power (2025)
Personal Life
Mark Levin is married to Julie Prince and has two children, Chase Levin and Lauren Levin. He is also known to be a dog lover.
Political Views and Controversies
Mark Levin is known for his strong conservative views and has been described as engaging in incendiary discourse. A 2016 study found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage." He has been a vocal critic of Democrats and has made controversial statements about political figures and events.
According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi. According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar, and a 'statist' who is trying to destroy individual freedom." According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state."
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In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew. He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi's politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I've ever seen". In January 2019, he said Pelosi was "America's first fascist. And that's a fact". He has criticized Republicans - including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Mitch McConnell - with whom he disagrees.
In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care.
In 2013, Levin stated that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and described President Obama as a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer". In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama was "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." He blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis: "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world.
In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Levin has said that there was a "coup" occurring against the first presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists.
Following the 2020 presidential election, as all significant media organizations reported Joe Biden had won, Levin told his radio audience that the Democrats were "stealing the election". On January 5, 2021, Levin insisted Congress's imminent counting of the Electoral College votes was an act of "tyranny" because of the supposed fraud.
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