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

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

External links

*
AndreiForArizona.com
campaign website
Andrei Cherny on The Huffington Post

Interview
on ''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

Early life and education

Career

Political campaigns

References

Further reading

External links