Childhood & Early Life
Mark Reed Levin was born on September 21, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., to Jack E. Levin and Norma Levin. His was an upper-middle-class family. His father was a published author, with several successful books to his name. Mark himself was interested in writing ever since he was kid, mostly due to his father’s influence.
Mark grew up with two brothers in Erdenheim, a township in Springfield, Pennsylvania, where he began his early education. He was academically brilliant since his elementary-school years and graduated from the ‘Cheltenham High School’ in 1974. He completed high school in just 3 years, as he was an exceptional student. He thus skipped the final year of high school and plunged straight into higher studies.
In 1977, at the age of 19, he graduated “magna cum laude,” with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the ‘Temple University Ambler,’ located just outside Philadelphia. He also attained the ‘Phi Beta Kappa’ honor.
The reason he had enrolled into a political science program was his own interest in the field. He grew up with conservative views and supported the ‘Republican Party.’ He also won a school election to the ‘Cheltenham’ school board, on the issue of reduction of property taxes.
He then intended to study law and joined the ‘Temple University Beasley School of Law.’ He scored high grades there and graduated with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree in 1980.
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Career
Immediately after graduating law school, Mark began working for a technology company named ‘Texas Instruments.’ In the early 1980s, he began his political career, serving as an advisor to the politicians in President Ronald Reagan’s cabinet. He also laid the foundation of a federal domestic volunteer agency named ‘ACTION’ and later began serving as the deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. ‘Department of Education,’ working for elementary and secondary schools.
He later began working under ‘Republican Party’ member and attorney general Edwin Meese. Mark was hired as the chief of staff to Edwin in the Reagan cabinet.
However, sometime later, he quit working with the government and began working in the private sector, earning a job at the ‘Landmark Legal Foundation,’ a law firm that specialized in constitutional laws. He worked as the director of legal policy and eventually became the company’s president in 1997.
In 2000, Mark 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.
Later, in 2014, reports claimed that Mark had been earning a salary of $300,000 annually, as the president of the ‘Landmark Legal Foundation,’ which was a non-profit organization. In 2018, Mark resigned from his position as the president of the company. However, he continues to serve as one of its board members.
Mark also appeared on many radio shows specializing in conservative talks. He was a regular guest on ‘The Rush Limbaugh Show’ and ‘The Sean Hannity Show,’ where he gave legal opinions. Owing to his soaring popularity, in 2002, he was given a Sunday slot on ‘WABC.’
Over time, he earned a daily spot. He thus began ‘The Mark Levin Show’ in 2006. 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.’
In 2014, he laid the foundation of ‘The Conservative Review,’ a multi-platform TV network. He was both the founder and the editor-in-chief of the network. Some of the programs published on the network were ‘Roaming Millennial,’ ‘Truth Be Told,’ ‘Allie’, and ‘Louder with Crowder.’
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In late 2017, he was hired to host a ‘Fox News’ weekend show titled ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’ The talk show invited public figures to talk about the American culture, history, politics, and current affairs, while discussing their impact on the lives of American citizens.
Mark has also authored several books, promoting his conservative ideology and criticizing the ‘Democratic Party.’ In 2005, he released his popular book ‘Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America.’
He also wrote books such as ‘Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto.’ The book became extremely popular. It reached the first spot on the ‘New York Times Best Sellers’ list and remained in the position for 11 weeks. The book sold more than a million copies and is still considered a great promotional tool for the ‘Republican Party.’
He also released books such as ‘Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America’ and ‘The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic.’ The latter suggested 11 new changes for the American constitution.
His 2019 book ‘Unfreedom of the Press’ became a massive success, making its way to the top of the ‘New York Times Best Seller’ list. The book became a bestseller on ‘Amazon.com’ 3 days before it was released. However, the book was highly criticized by the liberal media, owing to its lack of concrete facts.
Mark is known for his angry rants on his radio and TV shows. A study on radio and TV personalities rated him high on the “outrage” factor. Mark consistently attacked liberals and ‘Democrats’ on his show, which was his main modus operandi.
In 2009, according to ‘Politico,’ Mark was one of the staunchest critics of Barack Obama and also called him a liar “almost every day.” He criticized Obama using harsh words and called him a “Muslim brotherhood sympathizer.” He also accused Democrat Bernie Sanders of being a radical Marxist.
In 2016, he supported Ted Cruz as the ‘Republican’ presidential candidate, instead of Donald Trump. He was initially not a supporter of Trump, but he later stated that he would vote for Trump. In 2019, he appreciated Trump by stating that there had not been a single scandal under his presidency.
