Jonathan Cowan is the President and a co-founder of

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...

, a self-described centrist think tank.

Early life and education

Jonathan Cowan (also known as Jon Cowan) was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 9, 1965. Cowan was raised in Los Angeles for the majority of his childhood. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1987 with a degree in English.

Career

From 1989 to 1992, Cowan was Press Secretary and Legislative Assistant to Congressman Mel Levine (D-CA). Cowan then focused on political advocacy because he believed no one was acting as an "activist social-change agent in isgeneration." With the bipartisan help of former U.S. senators

Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas (; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 197 ...

(D-MA) and

Warren Rudman Warren Bruce Rudman (May 18, 1930November 19, 2012) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as United States Senator from New Hampshire between 1980 and 1993. He was known as a moderate centrist, to such an extent that Pres ...

(R-NH), Cowan co-founded, with Rob Nelson, the organization Lead...or Leave in 1992. The organization, with no paying members, was primarily funded by American businessman

Pete Peterson Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26, 1935) is an American politician and diplomat. He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane w ...

. In 1994, Cowan and Nelson co-authored the book ''Revolution X: A Survival Guide for Our Generation''. During the second

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

, Cowan served as Chief of Staff of the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

. During that presidency, Cowan also served as Senior Advisor to Secretary

Andrew M. Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs under Secretary

Henry Cisneros Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989, the second Latino mayor of a major American city and the city's first since 1842 (when Juan ...

. In 2000, Cowan became President of a new organization, Americans for Gun Safety. In 2005, Americans for Gun Safety was folded into the new, multi-issue think tank

, which Cowan co-founded along with Matt Bennett, Jim Kessler, and Nancy Hale.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Jonathan Dartmouth College alumni Living people 1965 births