Gordon Zacks (March 11, 1933 – February 1, 2014) was an American businessman, author and presidential adviser.

Life

Born in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, Zacks lived in

Bexley, Ohio Bexley is a suburban city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,928 at the 2020 census. Founded as a village, the city of Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, the Ohio state capital, situated on the banks of Alum Creek next ...

. He graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Business

His mother,

Florence Melton Florence Zacks Melton (November 6, 1911 – February 8, 2007) was an American inventor known for innovating the foam-soled and washable slipper. Early life Melton was born Florence to Meir and Rebecca Spurgeon in Philadelphia. Melton grew up in P ...

, was an inventor and with Gordon's father started the R.G. Barry Corporation: the world's largest supplier of comfort footwear. Zacks served as Chairman of the Board of R. G. Barry since 1979. He also served as President and Chief Executive Officer for 24 years until 2004, when he stepped down due to disappointing sales.

Politics

An expert on the Middle East and staunch advocate of Israel, he served as an adviser to

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

in several capacities: from 1987-1988, he served as National Chairman of the Bush for President National Jewish Campaign Committee and Co-Chairman of the Bush for President National Finance Committee, he was Vice-Chairman of the Bush/Quayle National Finance Committee and Co-Chairman of the Middle East Policy Task Force, from 1991-92 he served as Chairman of the US and Foreign Commercial Service Advisory Committee, he served on the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation for thirteen years, and he served on the

George Bush Presidential Library The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993), and his wife Barbara Bush. Located on a site on the west campus of T ...

Board of Trustees. In more recent political history, he supported several Republican campaigns: he donated money to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's 2000 presidential campaign and

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

's 2008 presidential bid.

Author

Zacks is the author of ''Defining Moments: Stories of Character, Courage, and Leadership '', a collection of essays on leadership, was published in 2006 by Beaufort Books. During the last month of his life, Gordon Zacks authored a second book called "Redefining Moments" which was scheduled to be published on July 14, 2014.

Death

In December 2013, doctors discovered that the prostate cancer that Zacks had suffered from for five years had spread to his liver. Zacks died at his home on February 1, 2014, aged 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacks, Gordon 1933 births 2014 deaths Businesspeople from Indiana People from Bexley, Ohio Ohio State University alumni Businesspeople from Ohio American fashion businesspeople Writers from Indiana Writers from Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople