Gerald "Gerry" Cassidy (born 1940) is a lobbyist in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He is the co-founder and CEO of

Cassidy & Associates Cassidy & Associates is a Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm established in 1977 by Gerald S. J. Cassidy. The firm focuses on lobbying the United States government for corporations and organizations. History Cassidy & Associates ...

. Cassidy is a central figure in the 2009 book on lobbying, ''So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government''. Cassidy was born 1940, the son of a self-reliant practical nurse with a shakey marriage; she moved him and his three sisters from house to house in

Brooklyn 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 ...

and

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

throughout his childhood. He is a graduate of

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

(B.S. 1963) and Cornell Law (J.D. 1967). Cassidy & Associates pioneered the use of congressional earmarks, used to obtain grants for university clients; Cassidy himself sat on the board of

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. Cassidy was also an aide to Sen.

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

and general counsel of the

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 ...

's Party Reform Commission. In March 2000, Cassidy was named #52 on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' "The Power 100." In early 2007, he became the subject of an extensive ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' series, addressing details of his personal life and professional success. In 2013, Cassidy stepped down from the day-to-day leadership of Cassidy & Associates and became chairman emeritus.

References

External links

Gerry Cassidy
press release
Washington Post
series index Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Villanova University alumni Cornell Law School alumni Boston University people Living people United States congressional aides American chief executives 1940 births {{US-law-bio-stub