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Gerald Rafshoon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerald Rafshoon
White House Communications Director
In office
July 1, 1978 – August 14, 1979
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byDavid Gergen (1977)
Succeeded byFrank Ursomarso (1981)
Personal details
Born
Gerald Monroe Rafshoon

(1934-01-11) January 11, 1934 (age 90)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BA)

Gerald Monroe Rafshoon (born January 11, 1934) is an American television producer and political operative. He is one of the four founding members of Unity08, and was the White House Communications Director under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. In doing so, Rafshoon became the first professional advertising executive to join the White House staff.

In January 2008, Rafshoon and fellow Unity08 co-founder Doug Bailey left that organization to launch a national effort to draft New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for President of the United States as an independent candidate.

In 1976, Rafshoon was the architect of the advertising and public relations campaign that helped Carter, then a mostly unknown Southern governor and peanut farmer, become President of the United States.

Following his White House years, Rafshoon began producing motion pictures and television programs. He is a specialist in international co-productions working closely with the leading television networks and production companies in Europe and filming in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Television productions

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He has produced 52 hours of television and cable entertainment for U.S. and international networks. Among them are two Emmy Award-winning programs and three Emmy nominees. They include:

He also produced an Emmy-winning documentary series Decisions That Shook the World about important controversial decisions made by American presidents that defined their character and affected the course of history.

Television work

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According to Namebase, Gerald Rafshoon is mentioned in the following books:

  • Greider's Secrets of the Temple 1989 (47)
  • Hertsgaard's On Bended Knee 1988 (23, 38-9)
  • Jones's The Politics of Money 1991 (215)
  • Kilian & Sawislak's Who Runs Washington? 1982 (56)

References

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Political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
David Gergen
White House Communications Director
1978–1979
Vacant
Title next held by
Frank Ursomarso