| Personal Information Summary | |
|---|---|
| Name | Leland Vittert |
| Age / How old / Birthday / Date of Birth / DOB | August 31, 1982. As of 2025, he is around 43 years old. |
| Wedding & Marriage / Wife / Spouse / Partner / Dating | Married. Check the full bio for relationship details. |
| Children / No. of Kids | None |
| Ethnicity / Origin / Heritage / Race | White |
| Nationality | American |
| Where did Leland Vittert go to college? | Vittert earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. |
Wiki Biography / Profile Background
Introduction :
- Leland Vittert ‘@themiddleeastnomad’ is a reporter and on-air personality with expertise in Middle East politics.
- Recognized for delivering the news with integrity and honesty, Leland is the Chief Washington Anchor at NewsNation and hosts On Balance with Leland Vittert weekdays at 9 PM ET. The show moved from 8 PM in January 2025.
- He left Fox News in April 2021 after 11 years and joined NewsNation in May 2021.
- Recently, he released his debut book, Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, a Grateful Son, and the End of Everything Else, with Harper Horizon.
Personal Life, Parents and Family Details :
- Leland Holt Vittert was born on August 31, 1982, in Illinois to parents Mark Vittert (father) and Carol Vittert (mother). He grew up in a happy household with his parents and sister.
- Leland currently lives in Washington D.C..
- On June 7, 2025, Leland married Rachel Putnam, in an intimate “Garden Formal” ceremony at the luxury San Ysidro Ranch. Their dog Dutch served as ring bearer, and Leland shared glimpses of their engagement and wedding planning on Instagram since early 2025.
- Leland is not the only family member in the spotlight. His sister is the celebrity chef Liberty Vittert, who also happens to be a professor of data science at Harvard University.
Education : Qualifications, High School & College Info
- Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Chicago Campus is where Vittert graduated from, in 2005, with a major in Economics and broadcast journalism minor in History. During college, he joined the Theta Chi fraternity.
- He spent a year studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Career, Income, Salary and Net Worth :
- Leland began his career as a reporter taking an internship at KTVI-TV (Fox 2) In St. Louis, Missouri.
- His work came to prominence in Baltimore during the Freddie Gray riots. People were astonished that he was standing amongst residents and demonstrators conducting interviews while still surrounded by riot police.
- His early career consisted of being a weekend anchor at KDVR-TV (Fox 31) in Denver, Colorado, and reporter for WFTV-TV (ABC 9) in Orlando, Florida.
- National news stations in Little Rock and Fayetteville in Arkansas and Madison, Wisconsin have also benefited from Leland’s expert reporting.
- In 2006, Leland received an Emmy nomination for coverage of Officer Bishop’s clearing in Orlando, Florida.
- In 2010, a move to the Middle East to become a news presenter for the Fox News based in Jerusalem was added to his resume.
- Leland’s stint in the Middle East was full of adventures – he followed the Arab Spring uprising, the Tahir Square political demonstrations that led to the resignation of the then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He also covered the movements of Colonel Gadaffi and the 2012 eight-day war between Israel and Hamas.
- Notable interviews he conducted during these times included those with the brother of the Al-Qaeda leader and a failed suicide bomber.
- In 2014, just before Vittert moved back to Washington D.C, he spent a month in eastern Ukraine to report on Russia-based militias taking over part of the country.
- He fills in for hosts on Fox and Friends, Americans Newsroom and Happening Now.
- In 2020, Leland and his crew were physically assaulted while covering the George Floyd protests outside the White House.
- After a decade, Leland left Fox News in 2021, officially described as “mutually and amicably parted ways,” though reports suggested his 2020 election coverage created tension within the network.
- He joined NewsNation in May 2021, bringing his international reporting experience and “Midwest sensibility” to prime-time news.
- Leland was promoted to Chief Washington Anchor in 2023, and in January 2025, his show On Balance was moved to the 9 PM slot while Elizabeth Vargas moved to 7 PM, demonstrating the network’s confidence in his prime-time appeal.
Interesting Facts, Height and Trivia :
- Leland won the “Best Hair on a TV Anchor Award” in 2007.
- Up until 2018, Leland owned his faithful Tahoe Chevrolet truck which he had driven for around 15 years.
- Leland is a dog lover and supports various dog charities.
- A day of relaxation will find Leland on the golf course with his father.
- Leland couldn’t talk until the age of three!
- He had once quoted saying happiness is “Getting a Victoria’s Secret Model to fall in love with him and be on a beach together with her and a margarita.”
- In his 2025 book Born Lucky, Leland opened up about being on the autism spectrum and the challenges he faced, including bullying and being called “weird.” His father, Mark, devoted himself to Leland’s development, coaching him in social skills, which Leland credits as life-changing. The book is both a tribute to his father and a mission to give hope to parents of children facing autism, ADHD, and learning difficulties.
I have enjoyed Leland’s unbiased reporting on News Nation. However, I would really like someone to convince him to pronounce versus correctly. Every time he says “verse” instead of “ver-sus” it makes my skin crawl! He said it twice this week including this evening (1-26) during his discussion about “religious NONES”.