Neal A Boortz Jr. (born April 6, 1945) is an American author, former attorney, and former libertarian radio host. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, which ended in 2013, was carried throughout the United States. The content of the show included politics, current events, social issues, and topics of interest, which Boortz discussed with callers, correspondents, and guests. Boortz touched on many controversial topics.

Boortz's first involvement with radio was in the 1960s, while he was a student at Texas A&M University, working as a local on-air personality at WTAW. After moving to Georgia, he became an avid listener of Atlanta's first talk radio station. Boortz became a regular caller to the morning talk show. When the show's host died, it created a job opening, which Boortz actively pursued. He was initially hired on a two-week "trial run", and later offered the permanent position. Boortz attended law school, earning a law degree in 1977. For some years he worked as both an attorney and as a talk show host. He eventually closed his law practice after 17 years to concentrate on his work in radio.

Boortz has received many industry accolades. He was named as one of the "25 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America" by Talkers magazine, and one of "Georgia's 100 Most Influential People" by Georgia Trend. In 2009, Boortz was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Boortz's first book was The Commencement Speech You Need To Hear in 1997, followed by The Terrible Truth About Liberals, in 1998. In 2005, he co-wrote The FairTax Book with Congressman John Linder, proposing to implement a variant of a national retail sales tax in lieu of other federal taxes. Boortz's involvement with the FairTax is covered in the documentary film An Inconvenient Tax.

Boortz was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, his mother's home. His father was a Marine Corps pilot, who served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. Describing himself as a "military brat", Boortz lived in many locations throughout the country (including the small community of Thrall, Texas). He spent his first two years of high school at Tustin Union High School in Tustin, California. The family then moved to Florida. Boortz graduated from Pensacola High School, in 1963. He attended Texas A&M University, but did not graduate. Boortz later attended John Marshall Law School, in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating in 1977 and passing the Georgia bar.

Boortz began his radio career in College Station, Texas, in the 1960s at WTAW, under the name of Randy Neal, while attending Texas A&M University. In 1967, after leaving Texas, Boortz moved to Atlanta and landed a sales job. For two years, he worked at Rich's Department Store, where he sold jewelry and carpeting. He later recollected that one of his customers was Martin Luther King Jr. During that time, Boortz was an avid listener of AM 680 WRNG (now WCNN). The station called itself "Ring Radio", as in the ring of a telephone. It was Atlanta's first talk radio station. Boortz listened to morning talk-show host, Herb Elfman, and soon became a devotee. "Boortz bombarded Elfman with calls, reading him little scripts he'd scribbled."

While watching the news one evening, he heard that Elfman had committed suicide. The next morning, Boortz showed up at the front door of WRNG and announced that he was ready to take Elfman's place. Though the management told him, "they were going to search for a 'qualified' host to take his place," Boortz was offered the role of temporary two-week replacement. In the interim, the evening host was moved to mornings and Boortz hosted the evening time slot. Two weeks later, Boortz was moved to the morning show, embarking on an Atlanta talk radio career that spanned more than 40 years. Boortz honed his skills at the tiny 1,000-watt station, and even wrote a few speeches for then Georgia Governor Lester Maddox. He continued working at the station until 1974, when WRNG "dumped him." He was offered a job at radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York, but turned the offer down to return to Atlanta and enroll in law school. In 1974, Boortz enrolled in then-unaccredited John Marshall Law School (Atlanta), going to class in his spare time, while his wife Donna and he worked full-time loading mail trucks. Boortz credits his wife with providing "the money to keep me in law school." After graduating from law school in 1977, Boortz practiced law in a solo law firm from 1977 through 1993. During that period, he divided his time between his law practice and work in radio. One of Boortz's clients was boxer Evander Holyfield, who later sued Boortz and other members of his management team in the aftermath of a failed Subaru car dealership investment. Boortz told Atlanta, "It had nothing to do with representing him as a boxer. It was settled and disappeared." Sometime later, in a heated on-air exchange between Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and Boortz, Campbell remarked on the Holyfield relationship: Campbell (sarcastically): "By the way, Neal, Evander Holyfield sends his regards ... We talked a little about how good he's doing now and the fact he's getting ready to open up his 57,000 square-foot, $20 million home. How he's fighting for $35 million a fight. I was sorta thinking about when you were representing him. He was living in an apartment over on Lenox Road. He was fighting for about $20,000 a fight. It's sort of interesting how your great legal skills have transferred into financial well-being for Evander . ... " Boortz responded by calling Mayor Campbell an "unethical son of a bitch." Boortz later remarked, "It's the only time I've ever been on the air that I lost control." In 1993, Boortz closed his law practice and devoted himself full-time to his radio career.

While in law school, Boortz returned to work at WRNG. In 1983 he moved to the larger news-talk radio station WGST. He later recounted how he would often go into work at his law office at 5 a.m., work there for several hours, then go to WGST, and finally back to the law office until 11:00 p.m. In 1992, Boortz asked WGST for a raise; a salary equal to his combined income as an attorney and a radio host. When WGST refused, Boortz left. He got his raise when he signed an exclusive contract with AM 750 WSB to host a weekday radio show. Shortly after that, he closed his law office. In 1995, Talkers Magazine named Boortz one of the "25 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America". That same year, Georgia Trend magazine added Boortz to its list of the "100 Most Powerful & Influential People in Georgia"