(New York Times)
Getting ahead in Washington has never been easy, but just try doing it without first getting past Nagourney, the top political writer at the nation's top newspaper. When he goes above the fold on page A1, people pay attention.

Adam Nagourney (born October 10, 1954 in New York City) is an American journalist covering U.S. politics for The New York Times.

Nagourney was the chief national political correspondent for The New York Times from 2002 to 2010, when he was appointed Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the Times. He graduated with a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1977. Prior to joining the Times in 1996, he worked for the Gannett Westchester Newspaper (1977–83), including serving as a reporter in the Putnam County, White Plains, and Northern Westchester editions of the White Plains "Reporter Dispatch," before joining the New York Daily News (1983–90), and USA Today (1990–1993), where he covered Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and the first year of the Clinton White House.

After joining The Times, Nagourney was assigned to cover the campaign of Bob Dole. After the 1996 presidential race, he went to New York as the paper's metropolitan political correspondent. He was appointed The Times' chief political correspondent in 2002, and covered the 2004 reelection of President George W. Bush and the 2008 election of Barack Obama.

Nagourney is openly gay, as was his predecessor as the Times' chief political correspondent, Rick Berke. His brother, Eric Nagourney, is an editor and writer for The New York Times, writing on health-related issues.

Nagourney became the Times's Los Angeles bureau chief in the summer of 2010.