Presidential adviser turned TV pundit was 83

David Gergen, CNN and PBS political analyst who was also an advisor to four American presidents, died Thursday in a retirement community in Lexington, Mass. He was 83 years old.

His son, Christopher, confirmed the news to The New York Times And said the cause was the dementia of Lewy’s body.

Gergen was born on May 9, 1942 in Durham, North Carolina, where he was also raised, before finally going to Yale, where he graduated in 1963 with a diploma in American studies. During his stay at the Ivy League school, Gergen was editor -in -chief of the student newspaper and also worked in the summers as an intern for the Democratic Governor of North Carolina at the time, Terry Sanford, where he first had his teeth in the world of politics.

He obtained a Harvard law diploma in 1967, then served in the navy for more than three years. His contacts made him write a job in the administration of President Nixon, who would become the first of the four roles of advisor that Gergen would serve. He would advise the presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to various titles, making Gergen the rare intermediate advisor.

From this distinct honor, Gergen said once The Boston Globe He identified himself as “a moderate radical”. “Centism does not mean dividing the difference” “, he said in 2020.” It’s about looking for solutions and bringing people to you. I am happy in this role. Working for Bill Clinton helped free me so that I can have my own voice. I could say what I thought, as opposed to worrying, if there are five senators from this party or party who was going to be very angry and that I have to make the line. “”

Gergen was also a successful author, writing on his tasks of the White House in the successful book 2000 Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon in Clinton. More recently, he wrote Hearts affected by fire: how the great leaders are made.

By putting his days of student paper in Yale, Gergen ventured into journalism in 1978, when he became editor -in -chief of chief Public opinion. In the mid -1980s, Gergen was the editor US News & World ReportAnd also a columnist there. This led to a very successful foray into political analysis – he was a frequent television commentator for Macneil / Lehrer Newshour On PBS and was a pillar on CNN throughout his career.

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Gergen was also a public service professor and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

In addition to his son, Gergen is survived by his wife, Anne; her daughter, Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett; Two brothers, John and Kenneth; And five grandchildren.