Alvin S. Felzenberg is an American author, columnist, consultant, educator, historian, public official, and spokesperson. A resident of Palm Beach, Florida and Washington, D.C., he served with the
9/11 Commission and has written books on American history and biography, with some of his best known being studies of
the country's presidents, such as ''A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
'' and ''
The Leaders We Deserved''. He has been a professor at
The University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. He is a political conservative who considers
Ronald Reagan a "great" president who "belongs on Mount Rushmore."
Background and career
Felzenberg was Principal Spokesman for the
, also known as the
9/11 Commission. He subsequently served as Director of Communications for the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress.
Felzenberg served as the Special Assistant and Adviser to the National Broadcasting Board of Governors, as consultant to the
Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
, and as Director of Community Outreach and Public Liaison for the Office of Secretary in the
U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
during the administration of
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 ...
.
[The Claremont Institute]
Alvin S. Felzenberg
. From 1982 to 1989, Felzenberg was assistant secretary of state of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in the administration of Governor
Thomas H. Kean.
Felzenberg was a fellow at the
Institute of Politics at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
[Harvard University Institute of Politics]
Former Fellow, Alvin S. Felzenberg
. He has lectured at Princeton, Yale, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins Universities. Since 2007, Felzenberg has been visiting lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is the author of ''The Keys to a Successful Presidency'', ''Governor Tom Kean: From the New Jersey Statehouse to the 9/11 Commission'', ''
The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game'', and ''A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr''. In January 2021, just before
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
left the presidency, Felzenberg stated that an update of his evaluation of U.S. presidents would rank Trump among the worst ever.
Felzenberg is a regular contributor to several periodicals, including ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'', ''
U.S. News & World Report'', ''
The Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...
'' and ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
''.
Felzenberg holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in politics from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and an M.A. and B.A. from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
.
He previously served on a senior staff member of the Government Affairs and Oversight Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
See also
*
9/11 Commission
* ''
The Leaders We Deserved''
References
External links
*
9/11 Public Discourse Project - BiographyAlFelzenberg.com(
Archived
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felzenberg, Alvin S.
21st-century American essayists
21st-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Harvard Kennedy School faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Princeton University alumni
Rutgers University alumni
21st-century American male writers
National Review people