Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr.
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. (born August 28, 1939) is an American attorney, political executive, and lobbyist who was chairman of the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
from 1983 to 1989. Fahrenkopf is co-founder, and currently co-chairman, of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which conducts the United States general election presidential and vice presidential debates. In the private sector, Fahrenkopf most recently served as the
American Gaming Association The American Gaming Association (AGA) is a United States gambling industry association. It was founded in 1994 with the goal of promoting, educating and lobbying on behalf of the gambling industry. The AGA's offices are located in Washington, D.C ...
's first president, and retired from the position in 2013.


Early life and education

Fahrenkopf was born in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, on August 28, 1939. He is a 1958 graduate of
Reno High School Reno High School (RHS) is a public secondary school in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is a part of the Washoe County School District. The school's teams are known as the Reno Huskies, and the school colors are red and blue. History Reno High wa ...
. In 1962, Fahrenkopf graduated from the
University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...
, where he was a member of
Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...
fraternity. In 1965 he graduated from the
Boalt Hall School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This cam ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.


Career


Early legal work

After graduating from law school, Fahrenkopf was hired as an associate by the
Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...
law firm of Breen and Young. In 1967, he left that firm to become a partner in Sanford, Sanford, Fahrenkopf, and Mousel, another Reno law firm, and also taught criminal law at the University of Nevada. He remained a partner in the firm until 1975, when he founded Fahrenkopf, Mortimer, Sourwine, Mousel and Sloane. The new firm's clients included hotels, casinos, liquor vendors, and construction companies. Also in the 1970s, Fahrenkopf was retained by the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson.


Politics prior to the RNC

In 1965, just out of law school, Fahrenkopf met all the members of the Nevada Young Republicans Club; a week later, Fahrenkopf was elected chairman of the club. Within two years the club had more than 500 members. In 1972, Fahrenkopf was the Northern Nevada co-chairman of President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign. He was general counsel to the Nevada Republican Committee from 1972 to 1975 and its chairman from 1975 to 1983. At the national level, Fahrenkopf became a member of the Republican National Committee in 1975. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1972, 1976, and 1980. From 1977 to 1979 he was a member of the Republican National Committee's executive committee. From 1981 to 1983, he was the national chairman of the Republican State Chairman's Association.


RNC

In January 1983, Fahrenkopf was elected chairman of the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
.
Betty Heitman Betty Green Heitman (November 27, 1929 – February 1, 1994) was a Republican activist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From 1978 to 1980 she was president of the National Federation of Republican Women. During her tenure the organization achieved ...
of
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, served as his co-chairwoman from 1983 to 1987. In 1983, Fahrenkopf was a founder of the
National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization in the United States founded in 1983 with the stated aim of advancing democracy worldwide and counter communism, communist influence abroad, by prom ...
, where he served as vice chairman and a board member from 1983 to 1993. In 1984, he founded the
International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
, on which he continues to serve as a board member. In 1986 he co-founded the Commission on Presidential Debates with
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
chairman Paul G. Kirk. Fahrenkopf served for many years as chairman of the Pacific Democrat Union and vice chairman of the
International Democrat Union The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...
, a worldwide association of conservative political parties from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia and twenty other nations. In 1985, Fahrenkopf was again hired by the firm
Hogan & Hartson Hogan Lovells ( ) is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. As of 2024, the firm employed a ...
, as a "special partner", where he was paid at least $100,000 a year. While RNC head, he also worked for two Nevada law firms, and was a director of First Republic Bank Corporation of California. Fahrenkopf was the longest-serving chairman of the RNC in the 20th century and the second-longest in the history of the Republican Party, leaving in 1989.


Post-RNC and other involvement

In 1989, Fahrenkopf became a full partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan & Hartson, where he chaired the International Trade Practice Group. On June 1, 1995, he became the
American Gaming Association The American Gaming Association (AGA) is a United States gambling industry association. It was founded in 1994 with the goal of promoting, educating and lobbying on behalf of the gambling industry. The AGA's offices are located in Washington, D.C ...
's first chief executive. He is a member of the board of directors of the
International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
. Fahrenkopf serves as the co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates . Fahrenkopf also sits on the board of directors of six New York Stock Exchange public companies: First Republic Bank, Gabelli Equity Trust, Inc., Gabelli Utility Trust, Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust, Gabelli Dividend and Income Trust, and Gabelli Gold and Natural Resources. His civic involvement includes service as chairman of the board of governors of the City Club of Washington, a member of the board of trustees of the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, The Economic Club of Washington and the
Federal City Council Federal City Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes economic development in the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Incorporated on September 13, 1954, it is one of the most powerful private groups in the city, a ...
. Fahrenkopf also served as a co-chairman of the Rivlin Commission, which investigated and reported on the government of the District of Columbia. He has been honored for his contributions, receiving the Junior Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award in 1973, the Nevada Lung Association "Man of the Year" Award in 1983 and the National Humanitarian of the Year Award from the National Conference on Christians and Jews in 1985. He is a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He also serves as a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). He has also been a frequent commentator on political and gaming issues on such news television programs as Crossfire, Inside Politics, Meet The Press, Hardball, Face the Nation, The Today Show, This Week and Good Morning America. In Fall of 2014, Fahrenkopf was a Fellow at the
Harvard Institute of Politics The Institute of Politics (IOP) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politics and ...
at the
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 ...
.


Personal life

Fahrenkopf and his wife, the former Mary Bandoni, have three daughters: Allison, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, PMI North America; Leslie, former associate White House Counsel to President George W. Bush; and Amy, a physician and President of HSS Health at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He is an avid golfer, tennis player and sports enthusiast.


References


External links


Staff Bio
at American Gaming Association website
The Council on American Politics at GW's Graduate School of Political Management
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrenkopf, Frank J. Jr. 1939 births International Republican Institute Living people American lobbyists Nevada Republicans Reno High School alumni Republican National Committee chairs State political party chairs of Nevada UC Berkeley School of Law alumni University of Nevada, Reno alumni