David Gergen

(b. 1942)

Presidential adviser and political commentator who served in four administrations — Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton — a rare bipartisan credential. Senior political analyst at CNN for many years. Professor of Public Service and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Author of Eyewitness to Power (2000), a memoir of his decades at the center of American political life.

Connection

Herbert reaches David Gergen through Frank Barrett.

Frank is close friends with David Gergen's brother Ken and has spent several Thanksgiving meals with David. Frank reports that "He was a man of impeccable integrity."

Why Herbert Would Be Delighted

Gergen's career spans the full arc of postwar American political life — a witness to and participant in the presidency from Nixon through Clinton. His move toward public service education at Harvard gives the connection an intellectual dimension alongside the political one.

Gergen is connected to …

Ten people with whom Gergen had regular, substantive contact across his career in government, journalism, and academia:

Bill Clinton – Gergen served directly as Clinton's counselor, working inside the White House from 1993–1994.
James Baker – As Reagan's Chief of Staff during Gergen's time as Communications Director, Baker was a daily operational partner.
Pat Buchanan – Buchanan was a fellow speechwriter on Nixon's team when Gergen started in 1971; they worked together in the same shop.
Bill Safire – Another Nixon speechwriting colleague, and later a prominent NYT columnist with overlapping media circles.
Robert MacNeil & Jim Lehrer – Gergen joined the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1984 and was a regular presence on the program for years.
George Stephanopoulos – A fellow Clinton White House senior staffer who later became a major media figure; their paths overlapped in both contexts.
Henry Kissinger – A Washington insider across the same decades, with overlapping Nixon-era and foreign policy circles; the two were frequent conference and commentary circuit colleagues.
Ted Koppel – Gergen was a regular analyst on ABC News Nightline, making Koppel a sustained professional relationship over many years.