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, who was born in Durham, North Carolina, served as the "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. 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.