Trivia

In 2008 and 2009 he flirted with a run for the 2010 Democratic nomination for the US Senate from Pennsylvania held Arlen Specter, before extending his contract and commitment with MSNBC.

Former speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter.

Frequently refers to wife Kathleen Matthews on-air as his (or as the) "Queen", especially annually in late December, when she comes on his show to do a turnabout segment where she interviews him about political happenings and trends for the preceding year or about his books. In 2014, for the first time in many years, she did not make an appearance on his show.

With a lifelong interest in politics, especially national politics, his first job in the political universe, after serving in the Peace Corps, was as a US Capitol Police Officer.

Wife Kathleen Matthews was a news anchor with WJLA-TV, the Washington (DC) ABC affiliate. The couple has three children: Michael, Caroline, and Thomas Matthews . Thomas is a regular cast member of The Newsroom (2012), a TV series about a national news show, and Matthews himself serves as a consultant on the show.

After working for President Jimmy Carter he was was a senior aide for then Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill for six years during the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Matthews worked in print media for 15 years, spending 13 years as Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner (1987-2000) and two years as a nationally syndicated columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.

His brothers are Herb, Jim, Charlie and Bruce.

In 2012, Matthews announced on Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) the birth of his first grandchild, Julia Ravenell Matthews, by his son, Michael Kerry Matthews, and daughter-in-law, Sarah Staveley-O'Carroll. The couple's second child, Brendan, was born in 2014.

Brother James R. "Jim" Matthews is a Republican politician from Pennsylvania. He was formerly an elected member of the Montgomery County (PA) Board of Commissioners. He was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania in 2006, as Lynn Swann's running mate, losing to the incumbent, Gov. Edward Rendell.

Son Thomas Matthews is a regular cast member of The Newsroom (2012), a TV series about a national news show, and Matthews himself serves as a consultant on the show.

Has at various times referred to himself on air as both a liberal and a conservative, including having voted for Republicans George W. Bush in the 2000 US Presidential election and Michael Steele (later Chairman of the Republican National Committee and MSNBC analyst) in the 2006 Maryland US Senatorial election, and for Democrats Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 US Presidential elections and Chris Van Hollen, the US Representative for the 8th District of Maryland.

Attended La Salle College High School, an independent Roman Catholic college preparatory boys' school, which is located in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

In 1974 ran unsuccessfully for US House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District.

He has lived in Montgomery County (PA) during his childhood and Montgomery County (MD), where he lives with his wife (and as of 2015 has lived for about 20+ years), in the town of Chevy Chase, which he frequently mentions on air.

Attended college at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, graduating in 1967.

Attended graduate school for economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and from 1968-70 was a "trade development advisor" with the United States Peace Corps in Swaziland, which he frequently mentions on air.

After his sting with the US Capitol Police, he served on the staffs of various members of Congress, including US Sen. Frank Moss of Utah (the last Democrat to represent Utah in the US Senate) and US Sen. Edmund Muskie, Democrat of Maine.

Was hospitalized with malaria in 2002, apparently contracted on one of his frequent visits to Africa. Has referenced having diabetes on several occasions on-air, including the Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) episode broadcast on December 7, 2009. The two times he has mentioned his diabetes in 2013 he has specifically stated that it is "Type 2 Diabetes.".

Stated on air that due to his most recent contract extension with MSNBC, he will still be "sitting in this chair," doing Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) through at least the 2016 election cycle, which includes the next presidential election, at which time he will be 71 years old. (2013)

Matthews announced on the September 30, 2013 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) that he would be speaking at Cooper Union (East Village, Manhattan), New York City. (October 2013)

Appeared with wife Kathleen Matthews on his show, Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) on October 1, 2013, "turning the tables," as he has in previous years during the Christmas-New Years period, allowing her to interview him--not as in the past about the previous year in politics, but this time for her to interview him about his new book, "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked," and comparing relations between the President (Ronald Reagan) and the Speaker (Tip O'Neill) to the present situation and government shut down. As he has many times, Matthews managed to refer to his wife as "The Queen" in the last sentence before the end of the segment.

Los Angeles, CA, USA: October 9 through October 11 for the promotion and signings of his new book, "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked" while doing Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) remotely, from the studios of KNBC, the Los Angeles NBC affiliate, and also appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) on October 10 and Real Time with Bill Maher (2003) on October 11. (October 2013)

San Francisco, CA, USA: October 7 and 8 for the promotion and signings of his new book, "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked", while doing Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) remotely, from the studios of the local NBC affiliate. (October 2013)

October 3, 2013: Boston, Massachusetts, USA to speak and to promote his book: "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked." (October 2013)

Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York, NY, USA; Boston, MA, USA and other cities: book signings and readings of his new book, "Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero." (November 2011)

New York City, NY, USA: A book signing party for "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked" on October 16 at the Club Room at P.J. Clarke's Restaurant/Lincoln Square in Manhattan, with Mort Zuckerman, TheGrio.com Editor Joy-Ann Reid, the New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg, Dan Rather, former Pennsylvania Governor 'Ed Rendell', MSNBC's 'Thomas Roberts', new MSNBC host Ronan Farrow, MSNBC.com President Richard Wolffe, MSNBC President Phil Griffin, and NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke in attendance. (October 2013)

He announced on the February 5, 2014, broadcast of Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) that the program will be supporting a new charity, Bornfree Africa, an AIDS charity dedicated to the eradication, in Africa, of mother-to-child transmission of HIV during the period from pregnancy to delivery to breast feeding, through use of a new drug that prevents transmission from mother to child during this period as long as the mother takes the medication once daily. The support of this charity and their mission was discussed with John Megrue, the Chairman and CEO of Bornfree, as well as the charity's affiliation with the United Nations, and support from Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

Re-visited Sub-Saharan Africa over the New Years 2013-14 period with wife Kathleen Matthews, his son Thomas Matthews and his daughter Caroline Matthews, and discussed and showed pictures from the trip on various broadcasts of Hardball with Chris Matthews (1997) in January-February 2014.