Elizabeth Helen 'Betsy' McCaughey (born Peterken) is a conservative commentator, healthcare policy critic, and former Lieutenant Governor of New York (1995-1998). Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a twin brother William, she grew up in a working-class family that moved around the Northeast before settling in Westport, Connecticut. Her father, Albert Peterken, was a factory janitor and maintenance worker who died in 1970 at age 60; her mother, Ramona, struggled with alcoholism and died of liver disease in 1971 at age 42. She attended public schools through 10th grade, then transferred on scholarship to the private Mary A. Burnham School in Massachusetts for her final two high school years. McCaughey earned a BA in history from Vassar College (1970), an MA (1972) and PhD in constitutional history (1976) from Columbia University, where her dissertation on William Samuel Johnson won the Bancroft Award and was published in 1980.

Her early career included teaching history at Vassar (1977-1980) and Columbia (1981-1983), a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship (1983-1984), guest curatorship at the New-York Historical Society (1986-1988) for a U.S. Constitution exhibit (authoring Government by Choice), and fellowships at the Center for the Study of the Presidency (1989-1992), Manhattan Institute, and Hudson Institute. She has served on boards including Genta (2001-2007) and Cantel Medical (2005-2009).

Personally, she married Thomas K. McCaughey in 1972, separating in 1992 and divorcing in 1994 with joint custody of their three daughters; during the marriage, her earnings were minimal except for a $75,000 Fox payment in 1990. She wed Wilbur Ross Jr. in December 1995; he filed for divorce in November 1998, leading to her lawsuit against him for alleged $40 million fraud related to campaign promises. She married Paul Batista in 2018.

Politically, she switched parties multiple times: Republican before 1997 and since 2010; Democrat from 1997-2010. As Lieutenant Governor, she was known for opposing the Clinton healthcare plan in her 1994 New Republic article 'No Exit' (which won a National Magazine Award but drew accusations of misleading claims on doctor choice and rationing; she partially recanted and collaborated with Philip Morris). She later criticized the Obama healthcare reforms, making controversial claims like 'death panels' and attacks on Ezekiel Emanuel (rated false by fact-checkers). In 2009, she advocated raising the Medicare age to 70. She founded and chairs the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (2004), pushing for hospital infection reporting laws in over 30 states and D.C., and authored books like The Obama Health Law. A weekly New York Post columnist and frequent Fox News/Newsmax guest, she advised Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. In January 2026, she announced a Republican candidacy for Governor of Connecticut, pledging to eliminate the state income tax, endorsed by CPAC and George Pataki, while criticizing Gov. Ned Lamont on housing and zoning; she resides in Connecticut. Her career includes controversies such as firing campaign aides and shifting positions for electability.