David Demarest | |
---|---|
White House Director of Communications | |
In office January 20, 1989 – August 23, 1992 |
|
President | George H. W. Bush |
Preceded by | Mari Maseng |
Succeeded by | Margaret Tutwiler |
Personal details | |
Born |
Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S. |
October 8, 1951
Political party | Republican |
Children | 2 daughters |
Education |
University of Colorado, Boulder Upsala College (BA) Drew University |
David Franklin Demarest Jr. is the Vice President for Public Affairs, Stanford University and a former Republican operative who worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
David Demarest began his Washington, D.C. career in the late 1970s, working with state and local political candidates on behalf of the Republican National Committee. Before 1977, he participated in several congressional campaigns in New Jersey. During the Reagan administration, he served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, where he was Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Public, Intergovernmental, and Private Sector Affairs. He was later Assistant Secretary of Labor for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.
In 1988 Demarest was the communications director on the Bush-Quayle presidential campaign. He then served four years as member of the White House senior staff. As White House Communications Director, he worked directly with the President, the White House Chief of Staff, and the Cabinet, and in that capacity managed a broad range of White House communications activities, including presidential speechwriting, public liaison, media relations, and intergovernmental affairs.
Demarest was instrumental in directing the Willie Horton message during the 1988 presidential campaign and in setting up the crack buy in Lafayette Park that kicking off President Bush's war on drugs.