Short questions with Dana Perino for Rich Edson

January 25, 2024 at 04:00 AM EST

For this week's "Short questions," Dana Perino talks to Rich Edson, senior national correspondent at Fox News — who reveals why the World War II Memorial means so much to him and his family.

You've seen us on screen, but have you ever wondered what we're like off-camera?

For the last few months, I’ve enjoyed checking in with some of your favorite Fox personalities to learn more about who they are behind the scenes.

What's the one thing Jesse Watters couldn’t live without? What's Bill Hemmer’s favorite Halloween costume? And what's sitting on Greg Gutfeld’s nightstand?

But that's not all! The fun is just getting started.

This week, we're excited to shine the spotlight on Rich Edson, a senior national correspondent for Fox News Channel. He joined the FOX Business Network (FBN) as a Washington correspondent in October 2007 and transitioned to Fox News Channel in 2015.

P.S. We have so much more in store for you. Stay tuned each week for new editions of "Short Questions with Dana Perino" — and if there’s a question you want answers to or a suggestion for the person I should interview next, leave a note in the comments section below.

RE: I’m from Dumont, New Jersey. It’s a small, densely populated town a few miles from New York.

I went to Rutgers University and then the Columbia Journalism School. In my first TV job, I was a local sports reporter/anchor in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I then covered city and county governments in and around Savannah, Georgia. I wanted to report on national issues and in 2007 moved to Washington without a steady job.

Soon after, FOX Business hired me as one of its first D.C. correspondents, and I’ve been here ever since.

RE: Interviewing then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the DMZ a few feet into North Korea.

This was just a few months into the Trump administration and the world was trying to figure out what the president’s foreign policy would be.

So were we — and we were asking his Secretary of State, recently Exxon’s CEO, about the administration’s Asia policy with North Korean troops standing feet away.

RE: This question leads itself to some hometown bias and shenanigans. So I’m going to exclude NY/NJ Italian food and bagels.

Let’s go to Austin/San Antonio and get some Tex-Mex.

RE: My grandfather served in World War II and died shortly after I moved to Washington.

He and my grandmother helped raise me, and we were very close. After he died, I brought my grandmother to Washington to see the World War II Memorial.

We left a framed copy of their wedding photo on the New York column.

I run past that memorial at least once a week and I think of them every time I do.

RE: Comedy! I did improv in college. Going to school so close to New York, I thought I might give the comedy scene a try after graduating.

The problem was that I developed a real love of news and reporting.

RE: Remember that '90s show where that guy got tomorrow’s newspaper today?

Professionally, that’d be a huge help.

RE: I finished first in my age group in a marathon in Antarctica.

I also finished nowhere near first in my age group in a marathon in Kenya.

RE: Washington: He could’ve been king. He was the first president to navigate the Constitution.

Washington knew when to leave power for the good of the country and set this precedent for centuries.

Lincoln: Saved the country.

Teddy Roosevelt: Imagine the energy he'd bring to that party?