Kevin Sullivan (journalist)
American journalist

Kevin Sullivan (born November 5, 1959) is an American journalist and author who is an associate editor at The Washington Post. Sullivan was a Post foreign correspondent for 14 years, working with his wife, Mary Jordan, as the newspaper's co-bureau chiefs in Tokyo, Mexico City and London. Sullivan is known for parachuting into faraway places, from Congo to Burma to Baghdad. He went to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to Saudi Arabia when King Abdullah died, and again after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. He has also worked as the Post's chief foreign correspondent, deputy foreign editor, and Sunday and Features Editor.
Sullivan and Jordan wrote three books together. Trump on Trial chronicled the Trump impeachment, and Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland was written with kidnapping survivors with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. Sullivan and Jordan have also been featured authors at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Early life and education
Sullivan was raised in Brunswick, Maine and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1981. After working for The Providence Journal in Rhode Island and the Gloucester Daily Times in Massachusetts, Sullivan joined the Post in 1991.
Sullivan spent a year studying Japanese language and East Asian affairs at Georgetown University in 1994–95, and he studied Spanish and Latin American affairs as a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University from 1999 to 2000.
The public source identifies “Kevin Sullivan (journalist)” as american journalist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kevin, Sullivan and journalist.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Kevin Sullivan (journalist)”, the useful work is to connect “american journalist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6397565. VIAF identifies the subject as 78180328. The Library of Congress control number is n2004154278. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959, 2001, 1981 and 1991.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kevin Sullivan (journalist)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kevin Sullivan (journalist) primary sources, Kevin Sullivan (journalist) archive and Kevin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kevin Sullivan (journalist)”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kevin Sullivan (journalist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.