Who is Martha Raddatz?

Martha Raddatz steers the conversation between Congressman Paul Ryan (left) and Vice President Joe Biden on Oct. …As viewers analyzed Thursday night's vice presidential debate, one thing became clear: While they may be divided over whether Vice President Joe Biden or Congressman Paul Ryan won the debate, most people thought that the moderator, Martha Raddatz, hit a home run.

Missed the debate? Read the complete transcript here

Raddatz corralled the candidates with her take-charge attitude, asking pointed questions and cutting them off when they took too much time to respond. After veteran moderator Jim Lehrer's laid-back performance with the presidential candidates, Raddatz's assertiveness took many by surprise—especially those who didn't know her background.

Who is Martha Raddatz?

An Emmy award–winning journalist with a reputation for being both fearless and fair, the 59-year-old mother of two (Greta Bradlee, from her first marriage to Boston Globe projects editor Benjamin Bradlee Jr., and Jake Genachowski, from her second marriage, to current FCC head Julius Genachowski), lives with her third husband, journalist Tom Gjelten, in Arlington, Virginia. While she was serious on stage, her sense of humor came out later, when she tweeted photos of her son and his friend in the candidates' seats.

Martha Raddatz has fun with her son and a friend after the debate. (Photo: Twitter.com)"I really had no idea I wanted to be a journalist when I was young," she told ABC News. "I just fell into it."

Raddatz has been covering presidential campaigns and traveling the world on assignment for decades, first as a reporter for WCVB-TV in Boston, and then as the Pentagon correspondent for NPR from 1993 to 1998. The author of "The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family," Raddatz joined ABC News in 1999 as its State Department correspondent.

Since then, she's covered the Pentagon, national security issues and the White House, and has traveled around the world as a war correspondent, writing about conflicts in the Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. She became ABC News's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent in 2008, and was the only television reporter allowed to cover a combat mission over Afghanistan in an F15 fighter jet. She's been to Iraq 21 times to cover the war there, a fact that she alluded to moments before the debate began.

"I've spent a good deal of time in war zones, so I'm not used to sitting with my back to the audience," she quipped before taking her seat.

Though she joked that debates may be more dangerous than war zones "because you don't wear body armor," the seasoned war reporter wasn't about to be intimidated by a couple of vice presidential candidates. Unlike Jim Lehrer, who was trampled on by both President Barack Obama and former governor Mitt Romney during their first debate, Raddatz refused to allow herself to be railroaded.

"Martha Raddatz is no joke," CNN anchor Don Lemon tweeted. "Following up & in charge."

When questioning Biden about the attack on the American consulate in Libya, she asked "Wasn't this a massive intelligence failure, Vice President Biden?" And when Ryan offered a detail-free response about the Republican tax plan, she pressed him for a proper answer—something that didn't sit well with Conservative pundits.

"Martha Raddatz is the worst moderator," tweeted Sean Hannity.

"I miss Jim Lehrer," Karl Rove tweeted minutes later.

Democrats, however, gave her points for not bowing under pressure.

"So far, winner of this section is Martha Raddatz, making them answer tough questions," tweeted feminist writer Shelby Knox. "Perhaps women should moderate more debates?"

We're ready: CNN's Candy Crowly is slated to moderate the upcoming presidential debate at Hofstra University on October 16 -- the first woman to moderate a presidential debate since Carole Simpson in 1992.