Frederick Allen was an award-winning reporter and political columnist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1972 to 1987, when he joined CNN as chief analyst and commentator covering the 1988 presidential contest. His essays for the program “Inside Politics” earned CNN a Cable Ace Award, and Allen was cited as best political analyst by the editors of The Hotline.

Allen was a founding panelist on the “Georgia Gang,” a public affairs show on Atlanta television since 1982.

He is the author of three books. His history of the Coca-Cola Company, Secret Formula, was published by HarperCollins in 1994 and has been translated into seven languages. Atlanta Rising, a history of modern Atlanta, was published by Longstreet in 1996 and is taught at several colleges. A Decent, Orderly Lynching, Allen’s account of the vigilantes of Montana, was published in 2004 by University of Oklahoma Press. His research into vigilante symbolism was cited by the Western History Association.

Allen graduated from Phillips Academy (Andover) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Linda, live in Atlanta and Cashiers, North Carolina.