Fredric Michael "Fred" Wertheimer (born January 9, 1939
) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and activist notable for his work on
campaign finance reform and other government integrity, transparency, and accountability issues.
Early career
He is a graduate of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
.
From 1967 to 1970 Wertheimer was Legislative Counsel to Representative
Silvio Conte
Silvio Ottavio Conte (November 9, 1921 – February 8, 1991) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for 16 terms, representing the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts ...
(R-MA) and Minority Counsel to the House Small Business Committee.
In May 1971, he started working for
Common Cause
Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...
, a nonpartisan citizens' lobby where he was assigned to the issues of
campaign finance
Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...
reform and ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
In 1976, Wertheimer was legal counsel for Common Cause during the ''
Buckley v. Valeo
''Buckley v. Valeo'', 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as provided by section 608 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, limits on election expenditu ...
'' case. He worked there until 1995, serving as Legislative Director, Vice President for Program Operations and as President from 1981 to 1995. In 1982, he was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. Through Common Cause, Wertheimer sought legislation regulating
special interest groups and
political action committees.
During his twenty-four year tenure at Common Cause, Wertheimer led the organization's successful campaign to pass the
Federal Election Campaign Act
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicatio ...
(FECA), creating the current system of public financing in presidential campaigns. Wertheimer also led Common Cause's successful battles to enact comprehensive ethics and
open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which sustain that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and ...
laws for Congress and the executive branch, and was a "key architect" of the nuclear arms control coalition in the 1980s, according to
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
. He also helped to create and publish
''Common Cause'' magazine, which won the National Magazine Award for general excellence in 1987. He was succeeded in 1995 by
Ann McBride Norton.
In 1996, Wertheimer was a Fellow at the
Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, and in 1997 he was the J. Skelly Wright Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
. He also has been a political analyst and consultant for
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
,
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
and ABC's ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
''.
Wertheimer is currently the President and CEO of
Democracy 21
Democracy 21 is a non-profit organization in the United States that aims to combat the influence of private money in politics by enacting campaign finance reform. It was founded in 1997 by longtime activist Fred Wertheimer
Fredric Michael "Fred ...
, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, which he founded in 1997. He was named as one of the 90 greatest Washington lawyers of the last 30 years by ''
Legal Times
ALM (formerly American Lawyer Media) is a media company headquartered in the Socony–Mobil Building in New York City, and is a provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal, insurance, and commercial real ...
'' (2008) and as one of Washington's top lobbyists by ''
The Hill'', a Capitol Hill newspaper (2009, 2010 and 2011).
Democracy 21 and Wertheimer played major roles in the enactment of the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (, ), commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA (pronounced "bik-ruh"), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of ...
in 2002 (BCRA), the
Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 () is a law of the United States federal government that amended parts of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. It strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity an ...
in 2007 (HLOGA), the establishment of the
Office of Congressional Ethics
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), established by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2008, is a nonpartisan, independent entity charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against members of the House of Representatives and thei ...
in 2008, and House passage of the
DISCLOSE Act
The Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act or DISCLOSE Act is a federal campaign finance reform bill that has been introduced in the United States Congress since 2010. The bill would amend the Federal Election Cam ...
in 2010.
Awards and honors
Wertheimer is the author of "Campaign Finance Reform: The Unfinished Agenda," published in the ''Annals of the American Academy of Political Science and Social Science'' and of "TV Ad Wars: How to Reduce the Costs of Television Advertising in our Political Campaigns," published in the ''Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics''. He is the coauthor of "Campaign Finance Reform: A Key to Restoring the Health of Our Democracy," published in ''The Columbia Law Review''.
Wertheimer has received honorary degrees from
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
,
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College.
Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...
and the
Claremont Graduate University
The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...
. He is a recipient of the COGEL Award for outstanding service in the cause of open and democratic government, given by the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, an organization of state and federal ethics enforcement officials.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
has called Wertheimer the "dean of campaign finance reformers," and
the Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
has called Wertheimer a "legendary open-government activist.
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
Supreme Court Reporter
Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg (born January 14, 1944) is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) focusing primarily on the activities and politics of the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's new ...
said, "Fred Wertheimer has helped write every campaign finance reform law since 1974."
In 2017,
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
called Democracy 21 one of the most active groups investigating the Trump Administration's transparency and ethics and called Wertheimer "one of the progressive movement's leading strategists on ethics and campaign finance laws since the 1980s."
Personal life
In 1969 Wertheimer married
Linda Wertheimer
Linda Wertheimer (; born March 19, 1943) is an American radio journalist for NPR. She's considered one of NPR's "Founding Mothers" along with Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg and the late Cokie Roberts.
Background and education
Wertheimer was born ...
, now Senior National Correspondent for National Public Radio, and former NPR national political correspondent and co-host of the NPR news magazine program ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''.
References
External links
Democracy 21
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wertheimer, Fred
1939 births
Living people
Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
American lobbyists
Campaign finance reform in the United States
Lawyers from Brooklyn
University of Michigan alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Activists from New York (state)
American chief executives