Michael Waldman

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving the systems of democracy and justice. Waldman is one of the nation’s most prominent public interest lawyers, and is an expert on the presidency, democracy and the Constitution. The Brennan Center is a leading legal voice on election law, Constitutional law, government reform and racial justice. In 2012 it helped lead the successful effort to block laws that could have made it harder for 5 million eligible citizens to vote. The Boston Globe called the Center “indispensable.” Waldman has led the Center since 2005. Mr. Waldman was Director of Speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995-99, serving as Assistant to the President. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly 2,000 speeches, including four State of the Union and two Inaugural Addresses. He was Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination from 1993-95. As the top White House policy aide on campaign finance reform, he drafted the Clinton administration's public financing proposal. He is the author of The Second Amendment: A Biography (Simon & Schuster, May 2014). Publishers Weekly called it “the best narrative of its subject.”