Fred Wertheimer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fredric Michael Wertheimer (born January 9, 1939) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and activist notable for his work on campaign finance reform and other government integrity, transparency, and accountability issues.


Early career

He is a graduate of the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
and
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
. From 1967 to 1970 Wertheimer was Legislative Counsel to Representative Silvio Conte (R-MA) and Minority Counsel to the House Small Business Committee. In May 1971, he started working for
Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...
, a nonpartisan citizens' lobby where he was assigned to the issues of
campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...
reform and ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1976, Wertheimer was legal counsel for Common Cause during the ''
Buckley v. Valeo ''Buckley v. Valeo'', 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on campaign finance in the United States, campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as pro ...
'' case. He worked there until 1995, serving as Legislative Director, Vice President for Program Operations and as President from 1981 to 1995. In 1982, he was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. Through Common Cause, Wertheimer sought legislation regulating
special interest groups A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular f ...
and
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
s. During his twenty-four year tenure at Common Cause, Wertheimer led the organization's successful campaign to pass the
Federal Election Campaign Act The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicati ...
(FECA), creating the current system of public financing in presidential campaigns. Wertheimer also led Common Cause's successful battles to enact comprehensive ethics and
open government Open government is the governing doctrine which maintains that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state a ...
laws for Congress and the executive branch, and was a "key architect" of the nuclear arms control coalition in the 1980s, according to
Congressional Quarterly ''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based Economist Group and ...
. He also helped to create and publish ''Common Cause'' magazine, which won the National Magazine Award for general excellence in 1987. He was succeeded in 1995 by Ann McBride Norton. In 1996, Wertheimer was a Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, and in 1997 he was the J. Skelly Wright Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
. He also has been a political analyst and consultant for
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
,
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
and ABC's ''
Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...
''. Wertheimer is currently the President and CEO of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, which he founded in 1997. He was named as one of the 90 greatest Washington lawyers of the last 30 years by ''
Legal Times ALM (formerly American Lawyer Media) is a media company headquartered in the Socony–Mobil Building in Manhattan, and is a provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal, insurance, and commercial real e ...
'' (2008) and as one of Washington's top lobbyists by '' The Hill'', a Capitol Hill newspaper (2009, 2010 and 2011). Democracy 21 and Wertheimer played major roles in the enactment of the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (, ), commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA ( ), is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaign ...
in 2002 (BCRA), the
Honest Leadership and Open Government Act The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 () is a law of the United States federal government that amended parts of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. It strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity an ...
in 2007 (HLOGA), the establishment of the
Office of Congressional Ethics The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), established by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2008, is a nonpartisan, independent entity charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against members of the House of Representatives and thei ...
in 2008, and House passage of the DISCLOSE Act in 2010.


Awards and honors

Wertheimer is the author of "Campaign Finance Reform: The Unfinished Agenda," published in the ''Annals of the American Academy of Political Science and Social Science'' and of "TV Ad Wars: How to Reduce the Costs of Television Advertising in our Political Campaigns," published in the ''Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics''. He is the coauthor of "Campaign Finance Reform: A Key to Restoring the Health of Our Democracy," published in ''The Columbia Law Review''. Wertheimer has received honorary degrees from
Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...
,
Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...
and the
Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...
. He is a recipient of the COGEL Award for outstanding service in the cause of open and democratic government, given by the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws, an organization of state and federal ethics enforcement officials. He received the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government for 2025, a national honor recognizing those who contribute to the practice and understanding of ethical behavior and fair play in government.
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
has called Wertheimer the "dean of campaign finance reformers," and
the Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
has called Wertheimer a "legendary open-government activist.
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
Supreme Court Reporter
Nina Totenberg Nina Totenberg (born January 14, 1944) is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) focusing primarily on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's news magazines ''All Things Consid ...
said, "Fred Wertheimer has helped write every campaign finance reform law since 1974." In 2017,
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
called Democracy 21 one of the most active groups investigating the Trump Administration's transparency and ethics and called Wertheimer "one of the progressive movement's leading strategists on ethics and campaign finance laws since the 1980s."


Personal life

In 1969 Wertheimer married Linda Wertheimer, now Senior National Correspondent for National Public Radio, and former NPR national political correspondent and co-host of the NPR news magazine program ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''.


References


External links


Democracy 21
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wertheimer, Fred 1939 births Living people Lawyers from Washington, D.C. American lobbyists Campaign finance reform in the United States Lawyers from Brooklyn University of Michigan alumni Harvard Law School alumni Activists from New York (state) American chief executives