What Robert Reich lacks in physical stature, he makes up for with a rambunctious personality and rich intellect. If the modern world were still dominated by physical strength and stature, Robert Reich, who is 4ft 11in tall, would have had no chance of making it into the halls of political power. Obviously, Reich’s resume is quite intimidating. He is a former professor at the Harvard School of Government and professor of social and economic policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Since January 2006, he has been Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. His wealth of experience in public policy served him well when he served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Robert Reich Biography
Robert was born June 24, 1946 in Scranton, Pennsylvania to a Jewish family. Raised in South Salem, New York, as a child, his physical deficiencies made him a cheap target after doctors diagnosed him with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, a bone disease that led to short stature. .
As a much older man, Robert Reich would reveal that his ordeal at the hands of bullies strengthened his resolve to fight inequality. By the 1960s, he was becoming increasingly popular on the local scene as a student leader and activist at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire.
After graduating from law school, between 1973 and 1974, he worked as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit – Judge Frank M. Coffin. He then took his first job in the federal government as assistant to Solicitor General Robert Bork during the administration of President Gerald Ford.
He was named director of policy at the Federal Trade Commission was first created by Ford, and in 1977 President Jimmy Carter renamed him director of staff for policy planning at the Federal Trade Commission. Between 1980 and 1992, Reich ventured into academia to take up a teaching position at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
When his old pal Bill Clinton won the election in 1992, he was appointed Secretary of Labor after leading Clinton’s economic transition team. After Clinton’s first term, Riech returned to the academic circle, this time with Brandeis University.
He ran for Governor of Massachusetts and is on record as the first Democratic candidate for a major political office to support same-sex marriage. Despite all the obstacles, he managed to finish in second place behind Shannon O’Brien.
Over the next few years, Robert Reich remained an influential voice within the Democratic Party establishment. He supported Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy at the time and was later named a member of Obama’s Economic Transition Advisory Committee.
Reich is the author of 18 books including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into 22 languages. He is also the author of the following best-selling books: The Future of Success, Beyond Outrage, Locked in the Cabinet, Supercapitalism, and Aftershock.
Education
Robert Reich attended John Jay High School in New York. After graduating, he continued his education at Dartmouth College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in 1968, which earned him a Rhodes Scholarship to study Politics, Economics and Philosophy at the prestigious University of Oxford.
After graduating from Oxford, Reich had intentions of enrolling in the military during the Vietnam War, but failed physical exams primarily because of his short stature. When the military adventure failed, he enrolled at Yale University where he completed a doctorate in law.
It was at Yale Law School that he met ClarenceThomas, Michael Medved, Richard Blumenthal. At Yale he became editor of the prestigious Yale Law Journal and also met Bill Clinton, whom he first met as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. At Yale,
Net value
Beyond his political and academic career, Reicha substantial income from his many public demonstrations. As an author, political commentator, speaker, and policy analyst, Robert Reich has amassed a net worth of $4 million.
Wife and family life
Robert Reich was brought up in a Jewish family, his father Edwin Saul Reich owned a clothing store. His mother was Mildred Dorf (née Freshman). While in England as a Rhodes Scholar, Reich was the college’s Music Production Manager. It was then that he met a 17-year-old British student, Clare Dalton. They married in 1973 but divorced in 2012. Their union produced two sons, Adam and Sam Reich.