Mike Allen became a White House Correspondent for TIME in September 2005 after six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000. Before turning to national politics, he covered schools and local governments in rural counties outside Fredericksburg, Va., for The Free Lance-Star; then wrote about Doug Wilder, Oliver North, Chuck Robb and the Bobbitts for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he nurtured police sources on overnight ride-alongs through housing projects. Mike also covered Mayor Giuliani, the Connecticut statehouse and the wacky rich of Greenwich for The New York Times. Before moving to The Times, he did stints in the Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post.

Mike grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism. His most important job is Uncle Mike to six nephews and a niece, who live in Oregon and North Carolina.