The Secret Life Of Anderson Cooper At Age 20: 5 Things He Was Doing Before CNN Stardom

Anderson Cooper's life at age 20, a period spanning from June 1987 to June 1988, was a fascinating and surprisingly covert chapter long before he became the "Silver Fox" of CNN. This era, which marks his junior year at Yale University, reveals a young man torn between two dramatically different career paths—one involving the high-stakes world of intelligence and the other, the nascent dream of becoming a globetrotting journalist. As of the current date, December 10, 2025, a look back at this pivotal year provides fresh insight into the foundational experiences that forged one of America's most respected news anchors.

Far from the war zones and major news desks he would later inhabit, the 20-year-old Cooper was navigating the intellectual rigor of an Ivy League education while secretly exploring a career that would have kept him permanently out of the public eye. This critical time was defined by an elite education, a surprising summer internship that few knew about, and a profound familial context that was constantly in the public spotlight.

Anderson Cooper: A Snapshot Biography and Profile

Anderson Hays Cooper is an American broadcast journalist, political commentator, and author, best known as the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show Anderson Cooper 360°. He is a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.

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• Full Name: Anderson Hays Vanderbilt Cooper
• Born: June 3, 1967, in New York City, New York, U.S.
• Current Age (as of Dec 2025): 58 years old
• Parents: Gloria Vanderbilt (artist, author, heiress, socialite) and Wyatt Emory Cooper (author, screenwriter)
• Sibling: Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (deceased)
• Education: Dalton School (New York City); Yale University (B.A. in Political Science, 1989, magna cum laude)
• Notable Career Milestones: Fact-checker for Channel One News (early 1990s), Correspondent for ABC News, Anchor of Anderson Cooper 360° (CNN), Correspondent for 60 Minutes (CBS News).
• Personal Life: Openly gay, father to two sons, Wyatt Morgan Cooper and Sebastian Luke Cooper, whom he co-parents with his former partner, Benjamin Maisani.
• Key Nickname: The Silver Fox

1. The Covert Path: Interning with the CIA

Perhaps the most surprising and least-known fact about Anderson Cooper's life at age 20 is his time spent interning with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This experience took place over two summers during his college years at Yale, a period when he was actively exploring a non-journalistic career path.

The summer of 1987, when Cooper was 20 years old, would have been his first or second stint at the monolithic intelligence agency. Yale University has historically been a well-known recruiting ground for the CIA, making the opportunity a logical fit for a Political Science major like Cooper.

This "secret agent" phase provided Cooper with an unparalleled, albeit non-public, education in global affairs, intelligence gathering, and the high-stakes reality of international politics—a background that would later inform his award-winning investigative journalism. While he ultimately chose not to stay with the agency after graduating, the experience undoubtedly honed his investigative skills and his deep understanding of the global landscape, crucial elements of his later success.

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2. Life as a Political Science Major at Elite Yale University

From the fall of 1987 through the spring of 1988, the 20-year-old Cooper was immersed in his junior year at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He was deeply focused on his studies, majoring in Political Science, a field that directly aligned with his CIA internship and his burgeoning interest in world events.

Cooper was a dedicated student, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and notably, he achieved the distinction of graduating magna cum laude. This academic success underscores his intellectual curiosity and rigorous work ethic, qualities that would later define his journalistic career. His senior essay, written the following year, was also focused on Political Science, further cementing his expertise in the subject.

His time at Yale was a critical period of self-discovery, where he was exposed to a world of intellectual debate and elite networking. He was an alumnus of the "Independent Party" at Yale, an organization that has produced several notable figures.

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3. Navigating the Vanderbilt Legacy: A Mother's New Memoir

While Anderson Cooper was busy with college studies and covert internships, his mother, the iconic artist and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, was making waves in the public sphere. The year 1987 was significant for the Vanderbilt family because it was the year Gloria published her second memoir, Black Knight, White Knight.

This memoir detailed her adult life and relationships, keeping the Vanderbilt name—and by extension, her son's—firmly in the media spotlight. For a 20-year-old Cooper, who had already experienced the intense media scrutiny surrounding his family and his mother's famous custody battle, this environment was normal.

The constant public interest in his mother’s life and the family's immense wealth and history served as a powerful backdrop to Cooper's own quiet, formative years. This dynamic may have contributed to his later desire to step out of the shadow of his family's fame and forge a career based on his own merit and ambition, ultimately choosing the demanding, hands-on path of journalism over the comfortable world of inherited wealth or the anonymity of intelligence work.

4. The Unconventional Decision: Choosing the Field Over the Agency

The biggest internal conflict for Anderson Cooper at age 20 was the choice between two compelling futures. The CIA internship offered a stable, powerful, and intellectually stimulating career. However, it was during this time that his internal pull toward journalism began to solidify. He realized that the life of a secret agent, while exciting, was not the path for him.

Cooper has often spoken about his lack of formal journalistic education, a fact that makes his later success even more remarkable. His decision to pursue journalism was a leap of faith, a choice to forego the comfort and connections of his family and the security of the CIA for the grueling, low-paying, and often dangerous world of freelance reporting. This decision, made in the years immediately following his 20th birthday, was the true starting point of his illustrious career.

5. Preparing for the Great Escape: The Post-Graduation Plan

By the end of his 20th year, Anderson Cooper was not preparing for a typical post-graduate life. Instead of applying for entry-level jobs in established newsrooms, he was formulating a plan that was as audacious as it was unconventional. He would later travel to Vietnam to attend the University of Hanoi, and shortly thereafter, he would begin his career as a fact-checker for Channel One News.

His time at 20 was a period of intellectual and emotional transition—a final, intense period of formal education and covert exploration before he would famously finance his own early reporting trips to war-torn regions like Somalia at age 22, using a makeshift press pass and a borrowed video camera. The grit and determination he displayed in those early years were quietly being forged during his junior year at Yale, as he prepared to leave the gilded cage of his family's legacy and the halls of the CIA for the harsh realities of the field.