Fox News’ Bob Beckel, Original Cohost of The Five, Dead at 73
Bob Beckel, a former political operative-turned-Fox News personality, has died at the age of 73. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Beckel joined the United States Department of State in 1977, becoming the youngest deputy assistant secretary of state in the Jimmy Carter administration. Then in 1984, he served as campaign manager for presidential hopeful Walter Mondale (who lost to incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan).
In 2002, Beckel was selected as campaign manager for Idaho senate hopeful Alan Blinken, but was forced to resign when he was targeted for extortion by a prostitute. That same year, he made a cameo on the Season 8 premiere of Fox’s 24, where he appeared in a mock debate opposite Fox News analyst Monica Crawley.
In 2011, Beckel made his debut as one of the original co-hosts of Fox News’ The Five. He was first let go in 2015 after he entered rehab for substance abuse. At the time, EVP of programming Bill Shine released a statement on behalf of the network, writing: “We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn’t hold The Five hostage to one man’s personal issues.” Beckel would go on to chronicle his years-long battle in his 2015 memoir, “I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV, and Addiction.”
Later that year, Beckel was hired as a CNN political commentator, weighing in throughout the 2016 election. He departed the network less than two years later to return to The Five, but was again fired just five months later after he reportedly made an insensitive remark to a Black employee.
The Five‘s Dana Perino was among the first to pay tribute to Beckel on Tuesday, tweeting a photo of the two of them alongside the caption, “RIP Bob Beckel. What memories I have of our friendship.”
He is survived by his two children.
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Bob Beckel is what you would call a curmudgeon. He could be infuriating, but also quite likable. May he Rest In Peace.
I once heard him rant that he should be allowed to smoke at Disneyland and that kids ruin that place
I never saw the world of politics the way Bob did but I respected that guy! I was first introduced to Bob when The Five first aired. He was just an all American guy and he is definitely missed.
plus also remember how insane the no-fly list he was put on the no-fly list simply because he booked a cruise with his wife to turkey, i mean that shows you how bad the no-fly list tell me does he look like a terrorist
I’m a Vietnam vet. On an episode of The Five, he told of his protesting the war. He admitted how he felt about the war and talked about how bad the Viet vets were treated and that he was a part of that. He looked directly into the camera, which meant he was looking at me, and he apologized. I immediatley became very emotional. I thought it took a lot for him to do that, and, after the treatment that we took when we got home and carrying that around for so many years, it felt wonderful for him to say that on national TV I’ll never forget that. May he, truely REST IN PEACE.