Myer Feldman
| Mike Feldman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| White House Counsel | |
|
In office April 1964 – January 17, 1965 |
|
| President | Lyndon Johnson |
| Preceded by | Ted Sorensen |
| Succeeded by | Lee White |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Myer Feldman June 22, 1914 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 1, 2007 (aged 92) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jackie Moskovitz (1941–1979) Adrienne Arsht (1981–2007) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BS, LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
Myer Feldman, known as Mike Feldman (June 22, 1914 – March 1, 2007) was an American political aide in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Hailing from Philadelphia, Feldman was a trained lawyer and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania which he attended on a scholarship. He served in the Army Air Force during the Second World War prior to joining Kennedy's campaign trail in 1957.
Under Kennedy he was tasked with compiling negative information on Richard Nixon during Kennedy's election campaign as well as helping with speech writing and television interviews. His files on Nixon became known collectively as the "Nixopedia". He also worked on agriculture issues and foreign relations on the subject of nuclear arms sales, often meeting secretly with Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and Foreign Minister Golda Meir. He was known for the rhyming couplets used when he and Theodore C. Sorensen, whom he succeeded as White House Counsel, traded memos. In 1964 The New York Post called him “the White House’s anonymous man.”
Upon Kennedy's assassination, Johnson retained Feldman for similar tasks against election rival Barry Goldwater. After retiring from government service in 1965, Feldman founded a law firm that dealt with legal issues in radio, and chaired committees on the Special Olympics. In this role he created the "President's Council on Mental Retardation" and was key to the events early organisation. He was also a literary critic and playwright. He died in Bethesda, Maryland in 2007.
Feldman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1914. Both his parents were Ukrainian-born and had arrived in the United States three years previously. He was schooled as a child at Wharton School followed by Girard College. He worked briefly for a roofing company before winning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. As a student he helped Penn football coach Harvey Harman scout opposition teams. He graduated in 1938 with a degree in Law, and began to teach the subject there up until the outbreak of World War II.
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