David Gergen

David Gergen
David Gergen

Gergen at the 2008 World Economic Forum
Born David Richmond Gergen
May 9, 1942 (1942-05-09) (age 69)
Durham, North Carolina
Nationality American

David Richmond Gergen (born May 9, 1942) is an American political consultant and former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is currently Director of the Center for Public Leadership and a professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School.[1] Gergen is the Editor-at-large for U.S. News and World Report and the Senior Political Analyst for CNN.[2]

Contents

Family and education

David Gergen was born in Durham, North Carolina. He is the youngest of four children of Aubigne Munger (née Lermond) and Dr. John Jay Gergen, who once chaired Duke University's mathematics department.[3][4][5] His brother, Kenneth J. Gergen, is a psychologist and professor at Swarthmore College.[6]

Gergen served in the U.S. Navy for three-and-a-half years, serving on a ship home-ported in Japan.[7] Gergen earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1963 and was a member of Manuscript Society. In 1967, he received his law degree from Harvard Law School. In 1967, Gergen married Anne Gergen of England. She is a family therapist; they live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They have two children, Christopher and Katherine, and four grandchildren.

Professional career

Political activity

Gergen began his Federal Career in the Press Office of the US Department of Agriculture in 1971. Gergen has served four presidents including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Gergen joined the Nixon White House in 1971, as a staff assistant on the speech writing team, a group that included Pat Buchanan, Ben Stein, and William Safire. Two years later, he took over as the director. Gergen went on to become the Director of Communications for President Gerald Ford and President Ronald Reagan, a counselor on domestic and foreign affairs for President Bill Clinton and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, and an adviser to the 1980 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign. Despite his long-standing association with Republicans, Gergen has stated that he is actually an independent.[8][9]

Educational, journalistic and other professional activities

Following his years in public service, Gergen worked as a political journalist, commentator, editor, teacher, public servant, and is a best-selling author. He was the first managing editor of Public Opinion, a magazine affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, and from 1985–1986, he worked as an editor at U.S. News & World Report. Following his service in the Clinton administration, Gergen resumed his relationship with U.S. News, and currently serves as editor-at-large. In 2000, he published a New York Times bestseller book, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton.

Gergen’s career in television began in 1985, when he joined the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour for Friday night discussions of politics. During that period, he was a regular commentator for five years on the NewsHour, providing a conservative viewpoint counterposed to that of Mark Shields. During his tenure, Gergen had the opportunity to interview many leading intellectuals. Gergen also moderated PBS's World@Large discussion program for two seasons.[9] In addition, he has also appeared on MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews, CBS and The Colbert Report. Currently[when?], Gergen is a Senior Political Analyst for CNN and frequently appears on Anderson Cooper 360 and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Gergen has also been a guest on NPR.

Gergen's frequent television appearances as a political commentator and pundit occasionally made him the target of satire. In a biting critique of the pedantic and frequently self-evident predictions made on some televised political talk programs, humorist Joe Bob Briggs made the observation that David Gergen bore an uncanny resemblance to The Cat in the Hat.[10]

Gergen has been actively involved in higher education. As of 2006, Gergen has been a professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership.[11] A Durham native, Gergen has also taught at Duke University from 1995 to 1999. Today he is now a trustee. Gergen served as Elon University's inaugural Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership and as the Chair of the Elon University School of Law Advisory Board. Gergen is active on many non-profit boards and is Chairman of the National Selection Committee for the Ford Foundation’s program on Innovations in American Government. He is an active as a speaker on leadership and sits on many boards, including Teach for America and the Aspen Institute. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Bar and the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds 21 honorary degrees.[7] He is a past member of Bohemian Grove[12][13] and the Trilateral Commission.[14]

See also

  • List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • David Gewirtz — Occupation Journalist, Computer Scientist, Author, U.S. Policy Advisor Nationality American Genres Technology, Competit …   Wikipedia

  • Gergen — is the surname of several persons:*David Richmond Gergen an American political consultant *Kenneth Gergen David s brother, an American psychologist *Mary Gergen Kenneth s wife, an American social psychologist …   Wikipedia

  • Kenneth J. Gergen — (nacido en 1935) es un psicólogo estadounidense y profesor en Swarthmore College. Obtuvo su Administración de Empresas en La Universidad de Yale en 1957 y su Ph.D. en La Universidad de Duke en el año 1962. Contenido 1 Biografía …   Wikipedia Español

  • Kenneth J. Gergen — (born in 1935) is an American psychologist and professor at Swarthmore College. He obtained his B.A. at Yale University in 1957 and his Ph.D. at Duke University in 1962. BiographyAfter completing graduate school in experimental social psychology …   Wikipedia

  • List of Duke University people — This list of Duke University people includes alumni, faculty, presidents, and major philanthropists of Duke University, which includes three undergraduate and ten graduate schools. The undergraduate schools include Trinity College of Arts and… …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret Sullivan — for the American actress see Margaret Sullavan Margaret C. Sullivan (born 1962) served as the Chief of Staff to three U.S. Cabinet members. She worked as the Special Assistant to Defense Secretary William Perry, Chief of Staff to the United… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack Kemp — Infobox Officeholder name = Jack Kemp, Jr. imagesize = 200px small caption = order = 1996 Republican Vice Presidential nominee term start =August 16, 1996 term end =November 5, 1996 runningmate = Bob Dole opponent = Bill Clinton/Al Gore… …   Wikipedia

  • The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy — infobox Book | name = The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy orig title = translator = author = John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt cover artist = country = United States language = English series = classification = Non fiction genre = Politics… …   Wikipedia

  • Christopher Dodd — Infobox Senator | name=Christopher Dodd nationality=American jr/sr=Senior Senator state=Connecticut party=Democratic term start=January 5, 1981 alongside=Joe Lieberman preceded=Abraham A. Ribicoff succeeded= state2=Connecticut district2=2nd term… …   Wikipedia

  • Elon University School of Law — Infobox University name = Elon University School of Law established = 2006 type = Private dean= George R. Johnson, Jr. (Interim Dean) students = 311 faculty = 22 city = Greensboro state = North Carolina country = USA campus = Urban website= [http …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”