Mark Bisnow (born August 1952) is an American entrepreneur, author and former presidential campaign aide. In 1980, he was press secretary for presidential candidate

John B. Anderson John Bayard Anderson (February 15, 1922 – December 3, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. A member o ...

. In 2005, he founded

Bisnow Media Bisnow Media, also known as Bisnow, is a multi-platform digital media company that produces news and live events. Founded in 2005, Bisnow Media is owned by private equity firm Wicks Group and has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. with 75 f ...

, a commercial real estate news and events company. He has written two books on American politics.

Early years

Bisnow grew up in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. He has a BA and MA from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and a JD from

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 ...

. Prior to starting

with his son Elliott in 2005, Bisnow worked in politics (US Senators

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

and

John Heinz Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Pennsylvania. Heinz represented the Pittsburgh suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and ...

, US Senate Majority Leader

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

and US Representative

), law (Latham & Watkins), transportation (assistant to the Chairman of US Air), technology (MicroStrategy and WebMethods), and business journalism (weekly columnist for the Washington Business Journal and daily business commentator for DC news radio WTOP).

1980 presidential campaign

From 1978 to 1980, Bisnow was press secretary and political advisor to Rep.

(R-IL) in his campaign for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination. The ''Wall Street Journal'' called him “the symbol of the Anderson campaign,” and the ''LA Times'' identified him as Anderson’s closest aide and the model for the campaign spokesman featured in the cartoon strip ''Doonesbury''.

Books

Bisnow’s 1983 memoir of the Anderson campaign, ''Diary of a Dark Horse'', was widely reviewed. ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' called it “the best book to come out of the 1980 campaign, addressing in a more engaging and revealing manner than any other questions about the power of personality in politics, the decline of the parties, and the influence of the media.” The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called it “funny, gossipy, and provocative.” A second memoir by Bisnow, ''In the Shadow of the Dome'', published in 1990, chronicled his experiences as a Capitol Hill aide in the 1970s and 80’s. It was named by ''Washington Monthly'' as one of the top political books of the year.

Digital media enterprise

In 2005, he founded

, focused on commercial real estate. By 2016, it grew to 75 employees in 29 cities in the US and Canada, publishing 40 different editions and holding 300 conferences a year for 80,000 attendees. In 2016, it was sold to Wicks Group private equity for $50 million.

Personal life

Bisnow has been married since the early 1980s to former FTC Commissioner

Margot Machol Margot E. Machol (also known as Margot Machol Bisnow) is an American author and former United States government official. She is author of ''Raising an Entrepreneur: 10 Rules for Nurturing Risk Takers, Problem Solvers, and Change Makers''.Raising a ...

. They have two grown sons, Elliott and

Austin Bisnow Austin Bisnow (born June 9, 1987), is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and lead singer of the band Magic Giant. He has written and produced songs for artists such as David Guetta feat. John Legend ("Listen"), Big Time Rush (� ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisnow, Mark 1952 births Living people American writers Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles