Andrei Hugo Cherny (born August 4, 1975) is an American lawyer, author, former government official, and the founder and President of ''
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.'' Cherny serves as the CEO of
Aspiration, Inc., a financial firm based in
Marina del Rey, California
Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The p ...
.
Early life and education
Cherny was born in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, on August 4, 1975. His parents, Helena and Pavel, were Czechoslovak Jewish immigrants who initially spoke little English.
After graduating from
North Hollywood High School
North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, inc ...
, Cherny graduated with honors from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
. He later received his
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
UC Berkeley School of Law
The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...
with support from
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, founded by Paul Soros and Daisy Soros in 1997, is a United States postgraduate fellowship for immigrants and children of immigrants. In 2021, the Fellowship received 2,445 applications and aw ...
.
Career
As a writer for ''
The Harvard Crimson
''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...
'', he wrote political pieces highlighting Clinton's reelection campaign.
The
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
communications director noticed his column and circulated it until it finally reached President Clinton's desk. Clinton used several of Cherny's lines in his 1997 inaugural address and hired the twenty-one-year-old Cherny ten days later. Cherny was the youngest White House speechwriter in American history.
President Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
has called him a “critical part of the team” which brought about the economic successes of the 1990s.
Cherny then went on to be an advisor to other elected officials and business leaders. He has provided policy and strategic advice to
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Joe Biden,
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
,
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
,
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
, and the top executives of companies such as
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
.
Cherny is the co-founder and President of ''
Democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
'', a public policy journal.
He was the chief drafter and lead negotiator of the 2000 Democratic Party platform when
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
was the nominee for president.
Cherny was the Director of Speechwriting and Special Advisor on Policy for the
John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign
The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for Democratic nomination. ...
. He was credited with the new strategy that revised Kerry's faltering primary candidacy and helped win him the Democratic nomination.
Cherny was a visiting fellow at the
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in Oc ...
in 2004. In 2011, he was a Senior Fellow at the
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive officer ...
.
From 2006 to 2009, Cherny served as a criminal prosecutor and Arizona Assistant Attorney General.
Cherny co-founded
Aspiration, Inc., an online financial company, with
Joseph Sanberg in 2013. Aspiration enables customers to choose their own fee levels on checking and investment accounts, and offers managed funds that are 100%
fossil-fuel free.
He is also the author of ''The Next Deal: The Future of Public Life in the Information Age,'' and ''The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour.''
Political campaigns
At the age of 26, while a law student, Cherny ran for the
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The A ...
, losing to
Lloyd E. Levine.
In 2010, Cherny was the Democratic Party nominee for
State Treasurer of Arizona
The State Treasurer is the state of Arizona’s chief banker and investment officer. The Treasurer’s Office accounts for and manages the cash flows of state government, directs the state’s banking services, disburses public funds, and manages ...
. He lost the election to Republican
Doug Ducey
Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...
, receiving 41% of the vote in a four-way race.
Cherny served as Chairman of the
Arizona Democratic Party
The Arizona Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix.
Party organization
The Arizona Democratic Party is organized into three parts: the state committee, the executive ...
from January 22, 2011 through January 30, 2012.
In 2012, Cherny lost the Democratic primary for
Arizona's 9th congressional district
Arizona's 9th congressional district was created as a result of the 2010 Census. The first candidates ran in the 2012 House elections, and the first representative was seated for the 113th Congress in 2013. Formerly located in the Phoenix are ...
.
References
Further reading
Video Interview/Discussion with Chernyand
David Frum
David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum au ...
on
Bloggingheads.tv
Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast onl ...
External links
*
AndreiForArizona.com campaign website
Andrei Cherny on The Huffington PostInterviewon ''The Candy Bomber's'' at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...
on September 25, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherny, Andrei
1975 births
Living people
American speechwriters
Arizona Democratic Party chairs
Harvard College alumni
UC Berkeley School of Law alumni
Arizona Democrats
Politicians from Los Angeles
Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona
American people of Czech-Jewish descent
Jewish American people in Arizona politics
Jewish American historians
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
American political scientists
American chief executives of financial services companies
North Hollywood High School alumni
Historians from California
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American Jews