David Gergen

Public Service Professor of Public Leadership
Director
Center for Public Leadership
Office Address
Taubman-152
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 124
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-496-1982
Fax: 617-496-7301
Email: David_Gergen@harvard.edu
Assistant
Nancy Howley (617-496-0556)
David Gergen

Profile

David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has served as an adviser to four U.S. presidents. He is a public service professor of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and the director of its Center for Public Leadership. In 2000, he published the best-selling book, Eyewitness to Power:The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton.

Gergen was born in Durham,North Carolina, where his father taught mathematics at Duke University. He graduated with honors from both Yale College (1963) and Harvard Law School (1967), and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for nearly three and a half years, posted to a ship in Japan.

Gergen joined the Nixon White House in 1971, as a staff assistant on the speech writing team, a group of heavyweights that included Pat Buchanan, Ben Stein, and Bill Safire. Gergen went on to work in the administration of Gerald Ford and as an adviser to the 1980 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign. He served as Director of Communications for Ronald Reagan and as adviser to Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher on domestic and foreign affairs.

In his private life, Gergen works as a political journalist and analyst. From 1985-1986 he worked as an editor at U.S. News & World Report, where he also served as editor-at-large. Gergen's career in television began in 1985, when he joined the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour for widely praised Friday night discussions of politics. Today, he appears frequently on CNN as a senior political analyst and contributes a monthly column to Parade Magazine.

Gergen joined the Harvard faculty in 1999. He is active as a speaker on leadership and sits on many boards, including Teach for America, the Aspen Institute, and Duke University, where he taught from 1995-1999. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Bar and the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds 19 honorary degrees.

Gergen lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife Anne, a family therapist. They have two children, Christopher and Katherine, and four grandchildren.

Courses

Not Offered

  • DPI-329 Contemporary Issues in American Elections

Spring

Media Expertise

David Gergen welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Commentary
    • Gergen, David. "Is Romney Damaged?" CNN.com, January 19, 2012.
    • Gergen, David. "A Wild Card Awaiting Romney." CNN.com, January 13, 2012.
    • Gergen, David, and Michael Zuckerman. "Mitt Romney -- Where's the Rest of Him?" CNN.com, December 2, 2011.
    • Gergen, David and Michael Zuckerman. "Is Money's Deep Role in Politics the Root of Our Woes?" CNN.com, November 15, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Why 2012 Election Will be Very Close." CNN.Com, November 9, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Why GOP Candidates Should Cool It." CNN.com, October 19, 2011.
    • Gergen, David, and Michael Zuckerman. "Time for GOP to Address Occupy Wall Street." CNN.com, October 19, 2011.
    • Gergen, David and Michael Zuckerman. "Is America Becoming a House Divided Against Itself?" CNN.com, September 28, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Rick Perry, Rising or Shooting Star?" CNN.Com, September 14, 2011.
    • Gergen, David, and Michael Brown. "AmeriCorps, Today's Depression-era CCC." CNN.com, September 7, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "How Obama Could be the Leader in the Room." CNN.com, September 1, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Five Things Obama Should Do to Lead." CNN.com, August 12, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "No Way to Run a Country." CNN.com, July 21, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Is Washington Slouching Toward a Solution?" CNN.com, July 26, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Time for a Truce on Debt-Ceiling Talks." CNN.com, July 14, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Obama Joins Parties in Painting Himself into a Corner Over Debt." CNN.com, July 11, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Will Obama's Barbs Help or Hurt Debt Talks?" CNN.com, June 30, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Remembering 9/11 and What's Truly Important." CNN.com, May 6, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "A Victory for Obama--and America." CNN.com, May 2, 2011.
    • Gergen, David. "Could a Mystery Candidate for GOP Race Still Emerge?" CNN.com, January 5, 2011.