This article offers an in-depth exploration of the life of Nicolle Wallace, the renowned anchor of MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, beyond her professional accomplishments. Wallace’s religious beliefs, family background, and ethnicity have been a point of interest for many, sparking curiosity for more insights into her personal life.
As a well-respected figure in U.S. politics and literature, Wallace has made significant contributions to the field. In addition to her role as an anchor, she was also the White House Communications Director during President George W. Bush’s administration and a senior advisor to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Moreover, she has penned three political novels, namely Eighteen Acres, It’s Classified, and Madam President.
In the realm of personal life, the focus often turns to Wallace’s religious beliefs, particularly the question of whether she is Jewish. To clarify, Wallace identifies as a Christian, although the specifics of her denomination are not publicly known. Her faith occasionally manifests itself through her social media posts, such as her prayers for victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting and her expression of gratitude on Easter Sunday in 2018.
The confusion surrounding Wallace’s religious identity may have originated from her last name, which bears a resemblance to some Jewish names. However, it is important to note that ‘Wallace’ was her first husband’s surname, Mark Wallace, who is not of Jewish ancestry. Her maiden name, Devenish, is rooted in English origins, dispelling any further assumptions about her lineage.
Turning to Wallace’s family background and ethnicity, she was born in Orange County, California, on February 4, 1972, as the eldest among four children of Veronica and Clive Devenish. Her parents were third-grade assistant teacher and an antiques dealer, respectively. Wallace’s ethnicity is a blend of English and Greek, with her paternal grandfather, Thomas Devenish, being an English immigrant to the United States.
Wallace spent her early life in Orinda, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area, and completed her education at the University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. In her personal life, she married Mark Wallace, a lawyer and former diplomat, in 2005, and they had a son together, Liam Wallace, born in 2012. The couple divorced in 2019, and she is currently in a relationship with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Michael S. Schmidt from The New York Times.
