Ken Mehlman
Kenneth Brian Mehlman is an American social entrepreneur and businessman. He serves as a member, global head of public affairs, and co-head of KKR global impact at investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. He oversees the firm's responsible investment efforts, leading the firm's Environmental Social Governance programs. Prior to joining KKR, Mehlman spent a year as an attorney and partner at law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. In January 2017, Mehlman announced that he would act as chairman of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Policy Advisory Board.
Mehlman held several national posts in the Republican Party and the George W. Bush administration. In 2000, he was appointed director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. Mehlman managed Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, and was 62nd Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, Bush appointed Mehlman to a five-year term on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
In 2010, Mehlman came out as gay in an interview with journalist Marc Ambinder, which made him one of the few prominent openly gay figures in the Republican Party. He told Ambinder that he was aware that the Republican Party emphasized an anti-gay agenda but felt that he could not "go against the party consensus" when he held leadership positions. After coming out, Mehlman advocated for the recognition of same-sex marriage.
Early life and education
Mehlman was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He is one of two sons born to Judith and Arthur Mehlman. His father was director of MuniMae and a former partner at KPMG, for which he was the head of the firm's auditing department in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Mehlman's brother, Bruce, works as a lobbyist at Mehlman Consulting.Mehlman received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he became a member of Phi Kappa Tau's Xi chapter. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991, where he was a classmate of future President Barack Obama.
Career
Mehlman practiced environmental law at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1994, when he became legislative director to Representative Lamar S. Smith of Texas's 21st congressional district. Mehlman served as Smith's legislative director from 1994 to 1996, and then as chief of staff to Representative Kay Granger of Texas's 12th congressional district from 1996 to 1999.Mehlman served as field director for the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. When Bush became president, Mehlman became director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. He managed the Bush re-election campaign in 2004. In January 2005, the American Association of Political Consultants gave Mehlman the "Campaign Manager of the Year" award for his management of the Bush/Cheney presidential ticket.
Mehlman joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co in 2008. As of 2021, he continues to be KKR's Global Head of Public Affairs and co-head of KKR Global Impact, helping assess and improve the companies in which KKR invests by engaging stakeholders & leveraging geopolitical & public policy trends. Mehlman also oversees the firm's global external affairs, including corporate marketing, regulatory affairs & public policy, and communications. Mehlman leads KKR's Environmental Social Governance programs for the firm and its portfolio companies.
In addition to his role at KKR, Mehlman is a trustee of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, Franklin & Marshall College, and Teach for America. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves as chairman of the American Investment Council, and is co-Chairman of the American Enterprise Institute's National Council. He is also a trustee and board member of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Mehlman was appointed to the board of directors of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board in June, 2016.
On January 10, 2017, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Facebook that Mehlman and David Plouffe would be joining the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Mehlman will chair the philanthropy's public policy advisory board, which he stated in his official Facebook post will consist of "a diverse group of advisors and experts."
On March 4, 2021, Mehlman was elected to the board of directors of the United Negro College Fund.
Republican National Committee chairmanship
Mehlman was Bush's choice to replace Ed Gillespie as the chair of the Republican National Committee and was elected to the post on January 19, 2005. Mehlman announced after the November 2006 general election that he would not seek re-election to another term as Republican National Chairman. One of his top deputies, RNC political Director Michael DuHaime, announced in December 2006 that he would become campaign manager for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign.Mehlman addressed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People a full year before Bush addressed the civil rights organization. In his address to the NAACP on July 14, 2005, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mehlman apologized for his party's failure to reach out to the black community in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stating, "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization... I am here as Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."
Although Mehlman's speech seemed to suggest a new approach towards the African-American community, most have considered the approach to be unsuccessful, with several polls indicating that Republicans have not improved in terms of African-American approval. A Washington Post poll shows that Bush's approval rating among African Americans fell to two percent at one point, and a report card issued by the NAACP gave "F's" to a majority of Republicans in the 109th Congress.
As the head of the RNC, Mehlman played a key role, along with Karl Rove, in executing the Republican Party's long-term, yet ultimately unsuccessful, plan for electoral dominance. This is discussed at length in Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger's book, One Party Country. Mehlman voluntarily stepped down as chairman of the RNC at the end of 2006. He was succeeded by Mike Duncan and Mel Martinez.
In 2016, Mehlman was a vocal opponent of Donald Trump's in the primary and general election, and he publicly vowed to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Phone jamming scandal
A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at the 2005 criminal trial of James Tobin, the Northeast political director for the RNC in 2002, shows that Mehlman made 115 outgoing calls – mostly to the same number in the White House office of political affairs – between September 17 and November 22, 2002, when the office of political affairs was headed by Mehlman. Two dozen calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. on the night after the voting, a three-day period. Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same phone number. In April 2006, Mehlman issued a statement on the matter, noting that his deputy for the Northeast states routinely discussed election business with RNC officials, and categorically stated that "none of my conversations nor the conversations of my staff, involved discussion of the phone-jamming incident." Tobin was convicted on December 15, 2005 "for his part in a plot to jam the Democratic Party's phones on Election Day 2002"; however, this conviction was later overturned by a federal appeals court and Tobin was acquitted on all charges.Coming out
In August 2010, Mehlman revealed that he is gay. Prior to this revelation, rumors about Mehlman's sexual orientation had circulated since at least 2004. In May 2006, Mehlman denied he was gay, telling the New York Daily News: "I'm not gay, but those stories did a number on my dating life for six months." On November 8, 2006, comedian Bill Maher made an appearance on Larry King Live, during which he referred to Mehlman as a closeted gay man. The incident became controversial because CNN edited out Maher's comments in later taped editions and removed the reference to Mehlman's sexual orientation from the transcript of the show. The day after Maher's comments, Mehlman announced he would step down as chairman of the RNC.Almost four years later, in an article in The Atlantic, Mehlman stated that he is in fact gay, and that he planned to be an advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage. According to the New York Times, Mehlman's "announcement makes him apparently the most prominent Republican official to come out." This disclosure followed years of him avoiding and denying inquiries about his sexual orientation. During his RNC chairmanship, Mehlman supported certain positions of the Republican Party, including opposition to same-sex marriage. Mehlman stated he could not have gone against party consensus, but acknowledged that, had he come out of the closet earlier, he might have been able to impact Republican efforts to pass state initiatives and referendums banning same-sex marriage.
Reactions
Marc Ambinder, who interviewed Mehlman and wrote The Atlantic article, said that Mehlman's roles with the RNC and the Bush campaign "coincided with the Republican Party's attempts to exploit anti-gay prejudices and cement the allegiance of social conservatives". A few commentators, such as Cenk Uygur and Michael Rogers, criticized Mehlman on The Ed Show, for having remained closeted about his sexuality while active in politics. Rogers has long advocated for the forced outing of closeted gay politicians who vote or advocate against LGBT interests.Some segments of the LGBT community expressed support for Mehlman. Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-winning writer of Milk, said, "Ken represents an incredible coup for the American Foundation for Equal Rights... As a victorious former presidential campaign manager and head of the Republican Party, Ken has the proven experience and expertise to help us communicate with people across each of the 50 states." Stephen Petrow, former president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, wrote in a Huffington Post column, "... the 43-year old Mehlman found the courage to be honest about his identity with family, friends, former colleagues and current colleagues been wonderful and supportive." Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe said in a public statement, "We hope the fact that Ken Mehlman has reached this level of honesty will now encourage other political leaders to reject divisive anti-gay campaign tactics..."