David Gergen, a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents and former Friday night political commentator on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, has died at the age of 83.
Gergen was a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, and a U.S. Navy veteran who went on to serve as an adviser to presidents in both major political parties: Republicans Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, as well as Democrat Bill Clinton.
Gergen was a professor of public service and a founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also had stints working in journalism, serving as chief editor of U.S. News & World Report and senior political analyst for CNN.
Gergen first appeared on The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1984. For six years, from 1987-1993, he was the GOP sparring partner with Democratic commentator Mark Shields every Friday night on the NewsHour.
“My favorite moments in television have been Friday nights with Mark Shields,” Gergen said in 2020.
In 2024, his daughter revealed in the Boston Globe that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
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