Anne Wexler
Anne Wexler | |
---|---|
Director of the Office of Public Liaison | |
In office September 1, 1978 – January 20, 1981 | |
President | Jimmy Carter |
Preceded by | Midge Costanza |
Succeeded by | Elizabeth Dole |
Personal details | |
Born | Anne Levy February 10, 1930 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Died | August 7, 2009 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 79)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Children | 4 |
Education | Skidmore College (BA) |
Anne Levy Wexler (February 10, 1930 – August 7, 2009) was an influential American Democratic political consultant, public policy advisor, and later the first woman to head a leading lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.
Early life and education
She was born as Anne Levy on February 10, 1930, in Manhattan, the daughter of Leon R. Levy, a prominent architect who designed the New York Coliseum. Her first involvement in politics was ringing doorbells for Harry S. Truman as a history major at Skidmore College.
She married
Political career
In the 1960s, Wexler began her political career by serving on the Westport Zoning Board of Appeals and by helping John Fitzgerald organize a Congressional campaign against the pro-Vietnam war Democratic incumbent Donald J. Irwin.[2] She organized the Connecticut effort for Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign, and served on the rules committee at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where she was the primary author of the committee's minority report, whose recommendations on reforms in choosing delegates were later accepted.[1]
She managed the 1970
After a divorce from her first husband, in September 1974, Wexler married Duffey, who would later head the National Endowment for the Humanities and the United States Information Agency.[1]
Working for
Rolling Stone magazine hired Wexler as an associate publisher in 1973, where her duties managing political reporting included overseeing the notoriously unconventional Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who would sometimes stay at the Duffey-Wexler residence while in Washington, D.C.[1]
Carter administration
During the 1976 presidential election, Wexler worked for the Jimmy Carter campaign and served on his transition team after Carter's victory over Gerald Ford. Being responsible for screening candidates for top-level positions, she recommended the little-known Juanita M. Kreps as the first woman to become United States Secretary of Commerce. Wexler herself then became undersecretary of the Department of Commerce.[1]
Wexler later moved to the White House, succeeding
Then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan described her in 1978 as "the most competent woman in Democratic politics in this country".[1]
Lobbying
Immediately after the Carter administration ended with the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980, Wexler established what would become one of the leading lobbying firms in Washington, Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates,[1][6]
Described by
The firm's clients included
Called the "Rolodex Queen" for the number and scope of her contacts, and lauded by Washingtonian magazine as "easily the most influential female lobbyist" in the capital, she credited her success to fulfilling the lobbyist's responsibility of guiding legislators through the pros and cons of complex legislation, a process that "government officials are not comfortable making ... by themselves."[1][7]
Death
She died at the age of 79 on August 7, 2009, in her home in Washington, D.C. from cancer.[3] Wexler had had breast cancer since being diagnosed in 1981.[8] She was survived by her second husband, Joseph Duffey; two sons from her first marriage, David and Daniel Wexler; stepsons, Michael and David Duffey; and four grandchildren.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Martin, Douglas. "Anne Wexler, an Influential Political Operative and Lobbyist, Is Dead at 79" Archived 2023-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, August 8, 2009. Accessed August 8, 2009.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (8 August 2009). "Anne Wexler, an Influential Political Operative and Lobbyist, Is Dead at 79". New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d Weil, Martin. "Anne Wexler, Political Adviser and Lobbyist, Dies at 79" Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, August 8, 2009. Accessed August 9, 2009.
- ^ "White House Transition Project Institutional Memory Series: The White House Office of Public Liaison" (PDF). p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- Ocala Star-Banner.
- ^ "Top Lobbyists: Hired Guns". 2009-05-14. Archived from the original on 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Staff. "Peddling Influence", Time, March 3, 1986. Accessed August 9, 2009.
- ^ Schudel, Matt. "Power Broker Founded First Major D.C. Lobbying Firm Led by a Woman" Archived 2018-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, August 9, 2009. Accessed August 9, 2009.
Further reading
- MacLean, Barbara Hutmacher (1997). I can't do what? : voices of pathfinding women. Ventura, Calif.: Pathfinder Pub. ISBN 9780934793629.
- O'Dea, Suzanne; Collins, Susan M.; Richards, Ann Waugh (2006). From suffrage to the Senate America's political women : an encyclopedia of leaders, causes & issues (2nd ed.). Millerton, NY: Grey House Pub. ISBN 1849727058.
- Bai, Matt (2009). "Anne Wexler : From Activist to Consummate Washington Insider". New York Times.
- Silverstein, Ken (May 1998). "The small world of lobbyist Ann Wexler". Multinational Monitor. 19 (5): 26. ProQuest 208877223.