David Gergen, a trusted Washington stalwart who advised four presidents before becoming a prominent political commentator, died Thursday at a Massachusetts retirement home. He was 83.
The Navy veteran, who held various roles under Republican Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Democrat Bill Clinton, succumbed to his battle with Lewy body dementia at a retirement community in Lexington, his son told the New York Times.
“David was a principled leader of unmatched character, integrity and kindness, who chose to see goodness in every person he met,” said Hannah Riley Bowles, former co-director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, where Gergen was a founding director.
She added that he “devoted decades of his life to serving those who sought to serve.”
The Durham, North Carolina native, who graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School, began his White House career in 1971 on Nixon’s speech writing staff, rising to lead the department just two years later.
He went on to serve as director of communications for both Ford and Reagan — and is credited with crafting the iconic line that helped secure Reagan’s 1980 victory over Democrat Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
“Rhetorical questions have great power,” Gergan said years later, according to the Times.
“It’s one of those things that you sometimes strike gold. When you’re out there panhandling in the river, occasionally you get a gold nugget.”
Gergen, who served in the US Navy during the 1960s before entering politics, crossed party lines in 1993 to join Clinton’s administration as a counselor.
His stint under the Democrat only lasted about a year before he left the White House.
“Of the countless ways that David Gergen contributed to our great country, what I will remember him for most was his kindness to everyone he worked with, his sound judgement, and his devotion to doing good in the world,” Clinton’s Vice President Al Gore posted on X.
“His innate interest in helping others was what made him so skillful at bypassing the politics of an issue to focus on what really mattered to the American people. I am grateful for the years I worked with him and for his friendship. He was a great man.”
Gergen later built a prominent media career, serving as an editor and columnist, a senior political analyst for CNN and a commentator for PBS and NPR.
He also upheld his bipartisan values through his work with the American Enterprise Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he remained a professor of public service emeritus until his death, according to the school’s website.
“David Gergen was [a] total professional and a really kind man,” Kennedy scion Maria Shriver posted on X.
“My thoughts are with his family. He loved politics and he loved being in service to this country.”
The family will hold a private burial at Mount Auburn Cemetery on Monday, funeral director Mark Douglass confirmed.
A larger tribute is expected to take place at Harvard in the coming weeks.
With Post wires
