WASHINGTON – David Gergen, a journalist who served as a White House advisor to Republican and Democratic presidents, died on Thursday at age 83, according to the Harvard Kennedy School, where Gergen taught for many years.
Gergen’s son, Christopher, told The New York Times that his father’s death was caused by Lewy body dementia, a brain disorder that affects thinking, memory and movement, according to the Mayo Clinic.
He died at a retirement community in Massachusetts, his son said.
Gergen, who was born in Durham, North Carolina, served as the professor of public service and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, according to the university’s webpage. He frequently appeared as a political commentator on CNN and PBS, and he was the chief editor of the U.S. World and News Report in the late 1980s.
“We at the Kennedy School count David among our greatest leaders: a man of courage and commitment who inspired generations of students to go out and change the world for the better,” said Jeremy Weinstein, dean of the Kennedy School and Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy in an obituary.
Gergen, who studied at Yale University and Harvard Law School, held many communication roles, including briefing reporters and writing speeches, across four administrations, the Times reported.
He started his political career serving under Republican President Richard Nixon as his speechwriter. In his memoir, Gergen wrote, “Before he self-destructed, Nixon was among the best of modern presidents,” according to an excerpt quoted by CNN. Nixon resigned as president in 1974, after revelations linking him to potential involvement in the Watergate scandal.
Gergen later served in the administrations of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan – both Republicans – and later returned to the White House to advise Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
“It was a controversial appointment – both for him and for me, as I had worked previously for three Republican presidents,” Gergen wrote in his memoir, according to CNN. “But he was a friend, and he was our president, so I said yes. And indeed, I was honored.”
Gergen often touted centrism, telling The Boston Globe in 2020 that, “Centrism doesn’t mean splitting the difference. It’s about seeking solutions, and you bring people along. I’m happily in that role.”
His daughter, Katherine, wrote in a December 2024 op-ed that her father told her, “We are going through a period of fear.”
“People are terrified. We have been tested, we are being tested now, but we must recognize that politics in our country is like a pendulum,” he said, according to her. “The pendulum has swung back in a way that may be very dangerous. But books such as Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s ‘The Cycles of American History’ show us that as a country we have been here before. We must hold onto the inspirational moments of our history and use them to light our path forward.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: David Gergen, former White House advisor, dies at 83
