American journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and an editor at The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic.

Born March 17, 1957, Kelly was raised in Washington, D.C., and was educated at the University of New Hampshire, where he worked on the student newspaper. Kelly reported on the Persian Gulf War in 1991 for The New Republic and in 1996 he became the editor of The New Republic. Writer Stephen Glass had been a major contributor under Kelly's editorship; Glass was later shown to have fabricated numerous stories, and falsified his notes and other backup materials. After losing his job at The New Republic, Kelly was hired by David G. Bradley to run the National Journal. Bradley was so pleased with Kelly's work that he hired Kelly to run The Atlantic Monthly.

On April 3, 2003, just a few weeks following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kelly was travelling in a Humvee vehicle with a soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division when the vehicle was fired upon by Iraqi soldiers. The vehicle carrying Kelly and Army Staff Sergeant Wilbert Davis veered off an embankment and into a canal below. Both men died in the accident. Kelly was the first American reporter officially killed in action in Iraq.