Alvin Stephen Felzenberg is an American author, columnist, consultant, educator, historian, public official, and spokesperson. He served as spokesperson of the 9/11 Commission. He has authored books on American history and biographies of U.S. presidents, including '' The Leaders We Deserved'' (2008) and ''A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley, Jr.'' (2018). Since 2007, he has been a professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Felzenberg is a political

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

who considers

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

a "great" president who "belongs on

Mount Rushmore The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a National Memorial (United States), national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dak ...

Early life and education

Felzenberg holds a B.A. and M.A. from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and an M.A. Ph.D. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Career

Between 1982 and 1989, Felzenberg was assistant secretary of state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in the administration of Governor Thomas Kean. Felzenberg served as a senior staff member of the Government Affairs and Oversight Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

9/11 Commission

Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Felzenberg was appointed spokesperson for the 9/11 Commission, a government commission that operated from November 2002 to August 2004 and was chaired by former two-term New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, that investigated the September 11 attacks and issued its findings in the ''

9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'', officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States'', is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prep ...

'' in August 2004. He subsequently served as director of communications for the Joint Economic Committee of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

George W. Bush administration

Felzenberg served as the special assistant and adviser to the National Broadcasting Board of Governors, as consultant to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and as director of community outreach and public liaison for the Office of Secretary in the U.S. Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration.The Claremont Institute
Alvin S. Felzenberg
.

Academia

Felzenberg was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

.Harvard University Institute of Politics
Former Fellow, Alvin S. Felzenberg
. He has lectured at Princeton,

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, and

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

universities. Since 2007, Felzenberg has been visiting lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communications at the

Author

Felzenberg 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 is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', '' The Weekly Standard'', 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 William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''.''National Review'' Online

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Felzenberg, Alvin S. Living people 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Harvard Kennedy School faculty National Review people Princeton University alumni Rutgers University alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty Year of birth missing (living people)