Michael Waldman | |
---|---|
White House Director of Speechwriting | |
In office December 22, 1995 –August 9, 1999 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Donald A. Baer |
Succeeded by | Terry Edmonds |
Personal details | |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Elizabeth Fine |
Children | 3 |
Relatives | Steven Waldman (brother) |
Education | Columbia University (BA) New York University (JD) |
Michael A. Waldman is an American attorney and presidential speechwriter and political advisor,currently serving as the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law,a nonprofit law and policy institute. [1] Waldman has led the center since 2005. [2]
Waldman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1982 and a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law in 1987. [3] During law school,Waldman worked on the New York University Law Review . [4]
From 1993 to 1995,Waldman was a special assistant to President Bill Clinton for policy coordination. As the top White House policy aide on campaign finance reform,he drafted the Clinton administration's public financing proposal. From 1995 to 1999,he was Director of Speechwriting,serving as Assistant to the President,and was responsible for writing or editing nearly 2,000 speeches,including four State of the Union and two Inaugural Addresses. [2]
Prior to his government service,Waldman was the executive director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch,then the capital's largest consumer lobbying office (1989–92). [5] After working in the government,he was a Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government (2001–03),teaching courses on political reform,public leadership and communications. [6] He was a partner in a litigation law firm in New York City and Washington,D.C.
In a September 2000 interview with PBS,he discussed his experiences at the White House,including his role as speechwriter,President Clinton's communication style,and the White House response to events such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Lewinsky scandal. [7]
On April 9,2021,Waldman was named to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States by President Joe Biden. [8]
Waldman appears frequently on television and radio to discuss public policy,the presidency and the law. Appearances include Good Morning America;PBS Newshour,CBS Evening News;the O'Reilly Factor;Nightline;60 Minutes;Hardball with Chris Matthews;CNN's Crossfire;the Dylan Ratigan Show ;color commentary on NBC (State of the Union) and ABC (Obama inaugural);NPR's Morning Edition ; All Things Considered ; Fresh Air ; Diane Rehm ;The Colbert Report;and many other programs. He writes frequently for publications including The New York Times , Washington Post , Newsweek ,Slate and Democracy.
Waldman is the author of several books,including:
Waldman spent the majority of his childhood in Great Neck, New York. [9] He is married to Elizabeth Fine, counsel to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. [10] She was general counsel to the New York City Council and deputy assistant attorney general for the United States during the Clinton administration. Together they have three children. [11] Waldman and his family reside in Brooklyn, New York.
His brother, Steven Waldman, co-founded Beliefnet and formerly served as a senior advisor to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. [12]
William Joseph Brennan Jr. was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history, and was known for being a leader of the Court's liberal wing.
Robert M. "Bob" Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, where he is a professor of political science in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He is a former American political consultant, who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns, including as senior advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004 and to the Gore-Lieberman campaign in 2000. Shrum wrote the famous speech Ted Kennedy gave at the 1980 Democratic National Convention conceding to and supporting President Jimmy Carter. He has been described as "the most sought-after consultant in the Democratic Party." Shrum served as speechwriter to New York Mayor John V. Lindsay from 1970 to 1971, speechwriter to Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and speechwriter and press secretary to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1980 to 1984 and political consultant until 2009.
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