Breindel grew up in an upper-middle classJewish family in New York. His parents were refugees of Hitler's Europe, which likely influenced his views on totalitarian government and fueled his outspoken hatred of communism. He attended Phillips Exeter, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he developed relationships with high-profile professors as well as David and Bobby Kennedy.
Career
Early in his career, Breindel pursued work in government, as his classmates at Harvard had expected him to. At the age of 27, he went to work as Senator Moynihan's aide on the Senate Intelligence Committee. However, shortly into the job, he was arrested for buying heroin from an undercover police officer in Washington, D.C., ending any hope of a career in government or politics. While he was still serving out his year's probation, he wrote for The New Republic and then took a research position on the PBS show American Interests. During this time, he started a relationship with Tamar Jacoby, the deputy editor of The New York Times op-ed section. With her help and several recommendations, including one from Podhoretz, he landed a job heading the editorial page of the New York Daily News. Breindel began working at the Post's editorial page in 1986, where he immediately began making friends and enemies. He played a pivotal role in New York's 1994 mayoral race. He was the key to securing Rudy Giuliani's endorsement by the New York Post, despite Rupert Murdoch's initial intent to support the Conservative Party candidate George Marlin. The endorsement and subsequent editorials proved crucial in a race which came down to a handful of votes. During the last year of his life, Breindel worked as a senior vice president of News Corporation and the host of Fox News Watch on the Fox News Channel. He also continued writing his weekly column at the Post.
In 1988, Spy magazine ran a feature that depicted Breindel as a ruthlessly career-driven opportunist whose career was effectively ended by his drug bust. In 1999, the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism was established in his memory, sponsored by Fox News, the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. Breindel was co-author of a book on the Venona project, which was published after his death.
