Abc News Hires Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos, one of President Clinton’s closest advisers, has been hired by ABC News as a contributing correspondent, completing the second pillar of a dual career he said he planned to pursue after leaving the White House.

The first pillar was established a week ago, when Columbia University named Stephanopoulos a visiting professor of political science. Although that two-year appointment begins in January, he will not begin teaching until next fall, so he will have time to get settled in the television world.

“More than anything, I didn’t want to get too much into a single-structured job,” said Stephanopoulos, 35, who received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University and a master’s degree in theology from Oxford University in England. “I want to think about policy and politics, and also share those thoughts. This combination allows me to do that.”

At ABC, Stephanopoulos will contribute to various programs, but at the outset he will appear most often as a political analyst on “This Week,” the Sunday morning news program with Cokie Roberts and Sam Donaldson as co-hosts.

Eventually Stephanopoulos is expected to do some reporting as a correspondent, according to the network.

Roone Arledge, president of ABC News, called Stephanopoulos “one of the best known and most articulate presidential advisers this country has ever seen,” adding that ABC News would benefit from Stephanopoulos’ “vast knowledge of Washington politics and policy.”

Stephanopoulos’ hiring comes the day after ABC’s chief White House correspondent, Brit Hume, resigned to join Fox News.