Hendrik Hertzberg (born July 23, 1943) is an American journalist, best known as the principal political commentator for The New Yorker magazine.

[2][3] His father was Jewish (and had become an atheist); his mother was a Quaker with a Congregationalist background and of English descent,[4][5] also a great-grandniece of Walt Whitman.

Consumed by his Crimson duties, Hertzberg landed on academic probation for a semester, which required him to withdraw from all extracurricular activities.

[6][9] Hertzberg declined the invitation and after graduating from Harvard in 1965 he took a draft-deferred position as editorial director for the U.S. National Student Association.

Hertzberg covered the rise of the hippies, the emergence of rock groups such as the Grateful Dead, Ronald Reagan's successful campaign for governor of California, and The Beatles' last concert.

[16][17] Others observe that calls and letters to the White House were overwhelmingly positive, and that Carter's approval rating in polls climbed 11 points.

Hertzberg believes that America's system of winner-take-all elections, federalism, and separation of powers is out of date and damaging to political responsibility and democratic accountability.

Under Brown's successor, David Remnick, Hertzberg was a senior editor and staff writer and was a main contributor to "Comment," the weekly essay on politics and society in "The Talk of the Town" and continued until early 2014.