Michael E. Ruane

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering local news, Washington institutions and historical topics.

Education: Villanova University, BA and MA in history; Nieman fellow, Harvard University

Michael E. Ruane is a general assignment reporter who also covers Washington institutions and historical topics. He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers.
Share confidential news tips with The Post
Latest from Michael E. Ruane

Two giant pandas on their way from China to D.C.’s National Zoo

Giant pandas Qing Bao and Bao Li, both 3 years old, are headed for the National Zoo, but won’t be on display to visitors for at least several weeks.

October 14, 2024
Memorabilia available at the National Zoo in advance of the arrival of two new giant pandas. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post)

New murals, hammock, cameras await National Zoo’s new giant pandas

Washington soon will welcome two new giant pandas from China.

October 14, 2024
Supervisory horticulturist Craig Rudolph in the renovated panda area at the National Zoo.

Terror in the skies over Germany, and a lost father now found

Remains of a Maryland aviator, lost on a terrifying mission over Germany during WWII, have just been identified.

September 22, 2024
Staff Sgt. John A. Tarbert who was killed during World War II when his bomber was shot down over Germany. His remains have just been identified.

As National Zoo awaits new pandas, David Rubenstein pledges $10 million

As the National Zoo awaits two new giant pandas, philanthropist David Rubenstein donates $10 million.

September 17, 2024
This is Qing Bao, a 3-year-old female giant panda who is expected to arrive at the National Zoo from China this fall.

Rare home movie fragment from JFK assassination goes up for auction

A Dallas truck driver’s newly discovered 1963 film shows the car bearing mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy speeding to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

September 6, 2024
A frame from Dale Carpenter's newly discovered video footage of the presidential limousine carrying President John F. Kennedy to the hospital after he was shot Nov. 22, 1963.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was a family star until tragedy struck in 1944

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was the star of the famous family and destined for greatness until the Navy bomber he was flying blew up on a secret mission in 1944.

August 10, 2024
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., who according to a biographer had told people he would be the first Catholic president, is shown here posing next to a plane in 1941. He was killed in a top-secret mission three years later.

From the bottom of a lake, a Russian plane lands at the Smithsonian

In 1944, a Russian IL-2 warplane was shot down by the Germans and crash-landed. Now it’s being restored for display at the National Air and Space Museum.

August 3, 2024
A World War II-era Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik that is being restored, at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center.

25-ton sculpture honoring World War I soldiers comes to Washington

A new sculpture honoring soldiers of World War I comes to Washington and will be the centerpiece and final element of Washington’s National World War I Memorial.

July 27, 2024
Part of a version of “A Soldier's Journey” is displayed at Sabin Howard’s studio in Englewood, N.J. The final sculpture is frozen in bronze.

A look at America’s long history of presidential assassination attempts

Key moments in American political violence.

July 14, 2024
Police and Secret Service agents react during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in D.C. on March 30, 1981. Reagan was hit by one of six shots fired by John Hinckley Jr., who also seriously injured press secretary James Brady.

A ‘Buffalo Soldier’ was killed in 1945. His remains were just identified.

Lemuel Dent Jr., an African American from Charles County, Md., died in fierce fighting in Italy during World War II. It took 79 years to identify his remains.

June 23, 2024
Lt. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott Jr., commanding general of the Fifth Army in Italy, talks to African American troops of the 92nd Infantry Division after they repelled a German attack north of Viareggio, Italy, in 1944.