Susan Waren was the second wife of Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host known for co-anchoring Morning Joe and for his earlier career as a Republican congressman representing Florida. The two married in October 2001, and their marriage produced two children before ending in divorce, which was finalized in January 2013 after Waren filed the previous September.
This article looks at what is known about Susan Waren, from her professional background working in Florida politics to her marriage to Joe Scarborough and its eventual end. It also traces Joe Scarborough’s own path from Congress to becoming one of cable news’ most recognizable morning hosts, since so much of the public interest in Susan comes from her connection to a figure whose career spans both politics and broadcast journalism.
Quick Bio Table
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Susan Waren |
| Known For | Second wife of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough |
| Husband | Joe Scarborough, television host and former congressman |
| Married | October 2001 |
| Divorced | January 2013 |
| Children | A daughter born 2003 and a son born 2008 |
| Prior Career | Aide to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, congressional committee staffer |
Her Professional Background
Before marrying Joe Scarborough, Susan Waren worked as an aide to then Florida Governor Jeb Bush and had previously worked as a staffer for a congressional committee, giving her direct professional experience within both state and federal government before her marriage brought her into a more public role connected to her husband’s media career. This background in political staff work placed her within the same general professional world that had defined Scarborough’s own earlier career as a member of Congress, giving the couple a shared familiarity with the world of American politics before his transition into broadcasting.
This professional background in government work, while not extensively covered by mainstream media, represents one of the more substantively documented aspects of Susan Waren’s life prior to her marriage, distinguishing her personal history from the largely undocumented backgrounds common among many spouses of public figures.
Her Marriage to Joe Scarborough
Susan Waren married Joe Scarborough in October 2001, becoming his second wife following the end of his first marriage to Melanie Hinton in 1999. The couple had two children together, a daughter born in 2003 and a son born in 2008, and remained married for roughly twelve years before Waren filed for divorce in Connecticut in September 2012, with the divorce finalized in January 2013. Following the divorce, the couple issued a joint statement describing it as a difficult decision reached after prayer and counseling that they ultimately felt was right for their family.
This twelve year marriage spanned a significant transition in Scarborough’s own career, as he moved from his earlier work following his time in Congress into building Morning Joe into one of MSNBC’s signature programs, meaning Susan experienced firsthand the years during which her husband’s media career grew substantially in national prominence.
Joe Scarborough’s Career in Congress
Joe Scarborough served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing Florida’s First Congressional District from 1995 to 2001, building a conservative voting record during his time in Congress before resigning partway through his fourth term. This period of his political career, which concluded the same year he married Susan Waren, established his early public profile and gave him the political experience and name recognition that would later inform his transition into television commentary and hosting.
This significant career transition, from elected office into full time media work, took place at almost exactly the same time as his marriage to Susan, meaning the entirety of their relationship together unfolded during the years he was building his post congressional media career.
The Rise of Morning Joe
Following his departure from Congress, Joe Scarborough eventually launched Morning Joe on MSNBC in 2007, co-hosting the program alongside Mika Brzezinski and building it into one of the network’s signature morning programs over the following years. This period of Morning Joe’s rise to prominence took place substantially during his marriage to Susan Waren, meaning she experienced firsthand the years during which her husband transitioned from a former congressman into one of cable news’ most recognizable morning television hosts.
This significant career growth, unfolding throughout much of their marriage, represents one of the more consequential chapters of Scarborough’s professional life, establishing the platform that would continue to define his public career for years after his divorce from Susan.
Their Children
Susan Waren and Joe Scarborough had two children together during their marriage, a daughter born in 2003 and a son born in 2008, with both children’s births taking place during the years Scarborough was establishing his broadcasting career. Detailed information about the children’s upbringing and current lives has not been extensively documented in reliable sources, consistent with a general pattern of the family keeping information about the children largely private despite Scarborough’s own significant media visibility.
This kind of privacy maintained around children, even by a parent with an unusually prominent public media career, reflects a choice common among television personalities who want to protect their children from the level of public attention that can accompany a parent’s broadcasting fame.
Joe Scarborough’s Later Marriage
Following his divorce from Susan Waren, Joe Scarborough went on to marry his Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski in 2018, a relationship that developed over years of the two working together on air and that has received considerably more sustained media attention than his earlier marriage to Waren, given the couple’s shared and highly visible television career. This third marriage, uniting two co-hosts of the same long running program, has become a notable and frequently discussed aspect of Morning Joe’s broader public narrative.
This later, more publicly documented marriage stands in contrast to the comparatively limited public information available about his marriage to Susan Waren, illustrating how a subsequent, professionally intertwined relationship can receive substantially more media attention than an earlier marriage that predated a public figure’s most visible career period.
Why People Still Search for Her Name
Interest in Susan Waren comes almost entirely from viewers of Morning Joe curious about Joe Scarborough’s personal history prior to his marriage to co-host Mika Brzezinski. Because Scarborough remains a prominent and frequently discussed figure in cable news, questions about his earlier marriages, including his twelve year marriage to Waren, continue to surface among those researching his complete personal and professional history.
Because Susan has kept a private life since her divorce from Scarborough, most of what people can find about her traces back to brief 2013 divorce announcement coverage and her documented professional background rather than to any independent account from her own perspective in the years since.
Morning Joe’s Continued Influence in Cable News
Morning Joe has remained one of MSNBC’s most watched and discussed morning programs for nearly two decades, with Joe Scarborough’s political commentary and interviews with major political figures helping establish the show as a significant venue for political discussion within American cable news. This sustained relevance has kept Scarborough a consistently prominent figure within political media, a visibility that has occasionally brought renewed attention to his complete personal history, including his marriage to Susan Waren.
This ongoing prominence within cable news political coverage has meant that Joe Scarborough has remained a frequently discussed public figure throughout the years since his divorce from Susan, a level of sustained visibility that distinguishes his career from many television hosts whose national relevance fades more quickly after their initial rise to prominence.
Joe Scarborough’s Transition From Politics to Media
Joe Scarborough’s move from elected office into full time broadcasting was not immediate, involving several years of legal and media related work before he found his footing as a cable news commentator and eventually as a host in his own right. This gradual transition, unfolding during the early years of his marriage to Susan Waren, reflects a career path shared by a number of former politicians who have successfully rebuilt their public profiles within media after leaving elected office.
This period of professional transition and rebuilding, which took place substantially during the early years of the marriage, represented a period of some career uncertainty for Scarborough before Morning Joe eventually provided the platform that would define the remainder of his career, a transition Susan would have experienced directly as his spouse during those formative years.
Cable News Coverage of Political Commentators’ Personal Lives
Cable news hosts with a political background, like Joe Scarborough, often receive a particular kind of media attention connected to their personal lives, since audiences that follow their on air political commentary sometimes take a broader interest in the personal history that shaped their political and media careers. This kind of attention, while generally more limited than that given to entertainment celebrities, has meant that basic facts about Scarborough’s marriages, including his marriage to Susan Waren, have been documented by entertainment and media outlets covering the cable news industry.
This pattern of media coverage extending to a political commentator’s personal history illustrates how even hosts whose on air work focuses primarily on policy and current events still generate some public curiosity about their private lives, particularly around significant events like marriages and divorces.
The Role of Political Staffers in Public Life
Susan Waren’s background working for a Florida governor and a congressional committee placed her within a category of political professionals whose work, while essential to the functioning of government, rarely receives the kind of public attention given to the elected officials themselves. This kind of behind the scenes political career, common among many experienced government staffers, meant that Susan had her own substantive professional background well before her marriage brought her any degree of public visibility connected to Scarborough’s later media career.
This distinction between a substantive, if lower profile, political career and the public visibility that came only through marriage illustrates an important aspect of Susan Waren’s own background, one that some of the less reliable coverage of her life tends to overlook in favor of framing her entirely through her connection to Scarborough’s more prominent career.
Conclusion
Susan Waren was the second wife of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, married to him from 2001 to 2013, a period that spanned his transition from Congress into building Morning Joe into one of cable news’ most prominent programs. Her own story remains largely private, known mainly through her documented political career background and the basic facts of her marriage and divorce from Scarborough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Susan Waren?
Susan Waren is the second wife of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, married to him from 2001 to 2013.
What did Susan Waren do before marrying Joe Scarborough?
She worked as an aide to then Florida Governor Jeb Bush and had previously worked as a congressional committee staffer.
Do Susan Waren and Joe Scarborough have children?
Yes. They have two children together, a daughter born in 2003 and a son born in 2008.
What is Joe Scarborough best known for?
He is best known as the co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and for his earlier career as a Republican congressman representing Florida.
Did Joe Scarborough remarry after divorcing Susan Waren?
Yes. He married his Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski in 2018.
