Peter H. Fenn (born December 12, 1947) is a Democratic Party political strategist, consultant, television commentator and owner of Fenn Communications Group, a political and public affairs media firm based in Washington, DC in the United States. The firm has worked in over 300 campaigns, from presidential to mayoral, and represented a number of Fortune 500 companies.
Career
In 1983, Peter Fenn founded a political consulting firm, becoming Fenn-King-Murphy-Putnam Communications after a partnership with Tom King in 1987. In 2003, Fenn incorporated as the Fenn Communications Group. Since its inception, Fenn and staff have assisted several Democratic candidates in the United States, including vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, Senator Paul Simon, and members of Congress David Bonior, Dave Obey and Nita Lowey. In addition to political campaigns, they have aided clients such as
General Motors,
Lockheed Martin,
3M,
National Association of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.4 million members, making it one of the biggest trade associations in the USA including NAR's institutes, so ...
,
The Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
and the
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
in providing strategic communications advice and producing image and issue advertising.
In 1996 and 1998, Fenn and his firm (then Fenn-King-Murphy-Putnam Communications) were chosen as the lead media consultants for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, producing ads that helped win back seats for the Democrats. In campaign 2000, Fenn served as a surrogate spokesperson on cable news programs for
Gore for President. He performed the same role in 2004 for the
Kerry for President campaign and in 2008 for
Obama for President.
Prior to forming the firm, Fenn was the first executive director of Democrats for the 80's, a political action committee founded by
Pamela Harriman
Pamela Beryl Harriman (''née'' Digby; 20 March 1920 – 5 February 1997), also known as Pamela Churchill Harriman, was an English-born American political activist for the Democratic Party, diplomat, and socialite. She married three times, ...
and then-Governor Bill Clinton. Fenn also served on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and as Washington Chief of Staff for Senator Frank Church. In 1983, Fenn aided in the founding and was the first executive director of
OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
.
Fenn has consulted overseas for the Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy. He produced television programs in Russia, Bosnia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, and consulted for political parties and candidates in such countries as South Africa, Mozambique, Romania, Latvia, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Hungary.
Academics
Peter Fenn has a B.A. from
Macalester College
Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S t ...
, where he was President of the Alumni Association and a past member of the Board of Trustees He earned a M.A. in International Relations from the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
.
Since 1985, Fenn has served as an adjunct professor at
George Washington's Graduate School of Political Management.
Media contributions
Fenn was a rotating guest on ''
Tucker
Tucker may refer to:
Places United States
* Tucker, Arkansas
* Tucker, Georgia
* Tucker, Mississippi
* Tucker, Missouri
* Tucker, Utah, ghost town
* Tucker County, West Virginia
Outer space
* Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in ...
'', along with political analyst
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
, until the show's end in March 2008. He also served as a guest host on CNN's ''
Crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
...
'' and ''
The Spin Room'', as well as MSNBC's ''Equal Time''. Fenn appears frequently as a TV commentator on the major networks and on cable news shows.
Fenn also writes regular columns for several DC papers and blogs, including
''The Hill''’s Pundit’s Blog, ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', and ''
U.S. News & World Report''.
Awards
Peter Fenn was selected by ''
Campaigns & Elections Magazine'' as a "Rising Star" as a political media consultant and as a "Mover and Shaker" in 1995. His writing and producing have also earned him
Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants, Telly Awards,
Summit Awards, Vision Awards and the award from PRNews for the Best Public Service Ad Campaign of 2005.
References
External links
Fenn Communications Group*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenn, Peter
American political consultants
1947 births
Living people