 In 1988, she won a Peabody Award with her coverage of the 1988 U.S. presidential election.Brackett was also an unsuccessful Chicago politician, having campaigned for William Singer as mayor in 1975 and making her own unsuccessful bid for committeewoman in the 43rd ward in 1976.Brackett attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and earned an undergraduate degree from Indiana University Bloomington.