(Felzenberg, Alvin S.) Alvin S. Felzenberg served in two presidential administrations, as an adviser to the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and on the majority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the principal spokesman for the 9/11Commission. Felzenberg teaches at Yale University, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University’s Graduate Program in Political Science. He is the author of The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn’t). In A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr. (Yale University Press) Felzenberg sheds light on little-known aspects of the most influential American conservative writer, activist, and organizer in the postwar era, including his role as back-channel adviser to policy makers, his intimate friendship with both Ronald and Nancy Reagan, his changing views on civil rights, and his break with George W. Bush over the Iraq War. This account of one of the most compelling personalities of American politics will appeal to conservatives, liberals, and even the apolitical.
