Margaret Brennan was born on March 26, 1980, in Stamford, Connecticut, to Edward and Jane Brennan, both of Irish descent. She grew up competing as an Irish dancer from age five until injuries ended her dance career at 18. She attended the University of Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Middle East Studies with a minor in Arabic in 2002, graduating with highest distinction.

Brennan launched her career as a producer for CNBC’s Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, later became a CNBC financial correspondent, before eventually anchoring InBusiness with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television. She joined CBS News in 2012 as a State Department and White House correspondent, covering the Obama and Trump administrations across more than a dozen countries. In 2018, she was named the 10th moderator of Face the Nation. 

Off-screen, Brennan is married to Yado Yakub, a Syrian-American attorney and U.S. Marine Corps judge advocate. The couple has two sons and resides in Washington, D.C.