Nicolle Wallace Biography

Nicolle Wallace was born Nicolle Devenish, on February 4, 1972, in Orange County, Southern California, U.S. She was the eldest child in the family. Her father was a dealer of antique items, while her mother was a teacher at a public primary school. Wallace grew up with three siblings, in Orinda in Northern California.

She graduated from the Miramonte High School in 1990 and then attended University of California, Berkeley. She earned her BA degree in mass communications in 1994. Wallace then received her master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism of the Northwestern University in 1996.

Nicolle Wallace had a brief stint as an on-air reporter in California. She eventually got involved in California state politics, which marked the beginning of her political career.

She gained prominence in politics in 1999, when she became the press secretary for the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. The following year, Wallace was appointed as the communications director of the Florida State Technology Office. She was part of the 2000 Florida election recount.

When George W. Bush was elected as the 43rd U.S. president in 2001, Nicolle Wallace was appointed as the special assistant to the president and the director of media affairs at the White House. She was primarily involved in structuring regional strategies.

In 2003, Wallace was named the communications director of Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. She adopted a non-aggressive strategy to promote the campaign, and her press strategies had an impact despite not being offensive. Wallace's work was highly appreciated. Her White House associate and presidential political advisor Mark McKinnon, too, praised her political skills.

During Bush's second term, which began in January 2005, Wallace assumed her duties as the White House communications director. She, however, stepped down from the position in July the following year and relocated to New York to join her husband, who was then serving as the representative of Bush's administration at the United Nations.

As a senior advisor, a top spokesperson, and a defender of John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, Wallace made several appearances on various cable news shows, promoting the candidate.

In 2010, Wallace's first novel, Eighteen Acres, was released. The title of the book was a reference to the 18-acre area of the White House complex. Eighteen Acres told a fictional success story of three influential female characters: the first female U.S. president, her chief of staff, and a White House correspondent.

The sequel to the book, It's Classified, was released in September 2011. The sequel was inspired by Wallace's real-life experiences while she was serving as the senior advisor to McCain's presidential campaign.

Actor Sarah Paulson portrayed Wallace in the Jay Roach-directed 2012 HBO political drama film Game Change. It was an adaptation of the 2010 book of the same name authored by political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The film majorly focused on McCain's presidential campaign. Thus, Wallace's portrayal got considerable screen space and showcased her resentment with the candidate's running mate, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

As announced on September 3, 2014, Wallace began co-hosting the 18th season of the ABC talk show The View, alongside Rosie Perez, 12 days later. She quit the show after the season ended. Reportedly, Wallace was hastily dismissed from the show, as the producers did not find her argumentative enough.

After The View, Wallace began her stint as a political analyst for NBC News and its cable network, MSNBC. She also contributed to and made several guest appearances on the MSNBC shows The 11th Hour with Brian Williams and Morning Joe and the NBC program Today Show.

Wallace released her third novel, Madam President, in April 2015. The following year, she revealed that she had not cast her vote in the 2008 presidential election because of the controversy surrounding Sarah Palin. The latter was a vice-president candidate for John McCain that year.

In November 2016, Wallace was the analyst for MSNBC’s live coverage of the poll results. From May 9 the following year, she began hosting the MSNBC program Deadline: White House.

Wallace has been a critic of President Donald Trump and his administration. However, in August 2019, she had to apologize for making a false statement on her show about how the president was contemplating "exterminating Latinos."

Nicolle Wallace was married to American businessman, former diplomat, and attorney Mark Wallace from 2005 until their divorce in 2019. The two had met when she was working on Bush's campaign. They had a son in 2012.

In February 2013, the couple publicly supported the law permitting same-sex marriage. They officially confirmed their support through an “amicus curiae” brief that was presented to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In November 2019, Wallace revealed she was a registered Republican.

The 2012 HBO movie Game Change featured actor Ron Livingston as Mark Wallace

Nicolle Wallace is currently in a relationship with The New York Times investigative journalist Michael S. Schmidt. In March 2019, she announced her divorce from Mark and made her relationship with Schmidt public.

The same year, the two were spotted together at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

She is a former White House Communications Director under President George W. Bush, making her one of the few individuals who have held such a prestigious position.