David Axelrod Biography
David Axelrod is an American analyst, political consultant, and former White House official known for being the chief strategist for the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama. He works at the University of Chicago’s non-partisan Institute of Politics as a director.
David Axelrod Age
Axelrod is 67 years old as of 2022. He was born on February 22, 1955, in New York City, United States.
David Axelrod Height
Axelrod stands at an approximate height of 6 feet 2 inches.
David Axelrod Family
Axelrod was born to his loving parents Myril Bennett (née Davidson) and Joseph Axelrod in a liberal Jewish family. Bennett was a PM journalist which is a 1940s liberal-leaning newspaper and was later tenured at Young & Rubicam as an advertising executive.
His dad was a baseball fandom and a professional psychologist who had relocated to the United States from Eastern Europe when he was 11 years. His parents divorced when Axelrod was eight years old. Later in 2021, Axelrod disclosed the mystery behind his father’s demise in CNN’s op-ed who died when he was 20 years. He further stated that his father suffered from severe clinical depression which later resulted in his suicidal death in 1977. Axelrod was raised with her sister called Joan Lehrich.
David Axelrod Wife
Axelrod got married to his beautiful wife Susan Landau who is the daughter of research doctor Richard L. Landau in 1979. They first met at the University of Chicago with Susan who at that time was a business student. Later in June 1981 were blessed with their first daughter Lauren who at the age of seven months was diagnosed with epilepsy which left her developmentally disabled. Axelrod explains that she used to have brutal seizures that required them to constantly change the regimen of medications for some time.
David Axelrod Children
The duo is blessed with three children Lauren, Ethan, and Michael.
David Axelrod’s Net Worth
Axelrod has an estimated net worth of between $1 Million-$5 Million. He has earned this through his successful career as a senior political commentator.
David Axelrod Salary
Axelrod earns an annual salary ranging from $ 45,000 – $ 110,500.
David Axelrod Education
Axelrod went to Stuyvesant High School in New York where he later graduated in 1972. Later that year joined Chicago University where he pursued political science and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree. Axelrod wrote as an undergraduate for the Hyde Park Herald, covering politics, and earned an internship at the Chicago Tribune.
Axelrod holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from DePaul University which he received on June 14, 2009. There he spoke to commencement exercises of the College of Computing and Digital Media and the College of Communication. He has served at Northwestern University as an Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies, where he was teaching an undergraduate class “Campaign Strategy”, analyzing political campaigns, as well as their strategies.
David Axelrod Career
Axelrod serves on CNN’s The Axe Files as a host. He is also known as a media strategist behind 150 national, local, and state campaigns. He is known as a former political writer for the Chicago Tribune, and the author of “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics” (The New York Times best-selling memoir). After he graduated from college, he was hired by The Chicago Tribune where he served for 8 years, reporting on local, state, and national politics, and in 1981, he became their youngest political writer. Axelrod became the City Hall Bureau Chief when he reached 27 years old. He also served as a political columnist for the City Hall Bureau. In 1984, he joined U.S. Senator Paul Simon’s campaign as communications director and was promoted to co-campaign manager after a few weeks.
Axelrod formed Axelrod & Associates (the political consultancy firm) in the year 1985. Two years later, he served on Harold Washington’s (Chicago’s first black mayor) successful reelection campaign. He became the media consultant for Neil Goldschmidt’s (Oregon Governor) all-but-official re-election campaign, in January 1990. He served on the presidential campaign of John Edwards in 2004. Axelrod served at an Illinois-area utility “Exelon”, as a consultant. He was a contributor to an op-ed to the Chicago Tribune in defense of patronage after 2 top officials in Richard M. Daley’s (Chicago Mayor) administration.
David Axelrod Barack Obama / Lawyer / Attorney
In the year 1992, Axelrod met Barack Obama for the very first time, at a black voter registration drive, where they were invited by a Chicago Democrat, Bettylu Saltzman. Axelrod was consulted by Barack Obama before delivering a 2002 anti-war speech. He told him to read drafts of his book “The Audacity of Hope”. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Axelrod thought about taking a break from politics, as 5 of the candidates were past clients.
Axelrod was a contributor to the start of the campaign of Barrack Obama by creating a 5-mins Internet video released on January 16, 2007. He resumed using “man on the street”- style biographical videos for the purpose of creating a sense of authenticity and intimacy in the political ads. He was responsible for implementing a strategy that promotes individual participation, a lesson drawn partly from the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean, and Obama’s personal goal.
On January 28, 2011, he departed from his White House senior advisor post. Axelrod was a top aide to the 2012 re-election campaign of Barrack Obama. He once said that his job in the 2012 campaign as the chief campaign strategist of Barrack Obama would be his last job as a political operative.
David Axelrod Senior Advisor to Barack Obama
Axelrod was named as a senior advisor of Barack Obama to his administration, on November 20, 2008. In that role, he crafted policy and communicated Barack Obama’s message in coordination with Barack Obama Administration, the White House communications team, and speechwriters.
David Axelrod Journalism Career
After the 2nd campaign of Barrack Obama, Axelrod went to work as a director at a bipartisan Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. He worked for MSNBC and NBC News from February 19, 2013, to September 2015, as a senior political analyst. Axelrod joined CNN after that as a senior political commentator. He was assigned as a senior strategic adviser to the British Labour Party where he helped Ed Miliband (party leader) in the run-up to the 2015 general election.
Axelrod is a co-owner of “AKPD Message and Media” and “ASGK Public Strategies”. He sold these to firms in the year 2009. He published a book “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics” in February 2015. In the year 2015, he hosted “The Axe Files”. There he interviewed a variety of political figures and did a series of in-depth discussions. He has co-hosted the podcast “Hacks on Tap” with Mike Murphy. There they discussed updates and news from the 2020 presidential campaign trail. In September 2015,
David Axelrod Foreclosure
In the year 2010, the U.S. foreclosure crisis was made public, and Axelrod was criticized widely for downplaying the crisis’s magnitude in his comments to the CBS News’s Face the Nation press. He stated that the administration of Barrack Obama “hope is this rapidly moves that this gets unwound as quick as possible” and that he ain’t sure that a national moratorium is called for because there were indeed valid foreclosures that probably should go forward. He announced this after a number of banks had voluntarily suspended evictions and foreclosures to investigate improprieties.
David Axelrod Arrested
In September 2019, Axelrod was to be arrested by the United States Military for TREASON! However, he was not arrested – Donald Trump looked to Putin (Russian President) for modeling on how to handle a scandal of his own making.
David Axelrod Podcasts
CLICK HERE to view his podcasts.
David Axelrod Book
Axelrod has authored a book “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics” which he published on February 10, 2015. The book is based on a portrait of political campaigning that is more like what people hope for than what they fear.
David Axelrod CNN News
Axelrod is working at CNN News where he works alongside other famous CNN News meteorologists, anchors, and reporters including;
- Kim Brunhuber
- Erin Burnet
- Ana Cabrera
- Alisyn Camerota
- Julia Chatterley
- Rosemary Church
- S.E. Cupp
- Amanda Davies
- Nina dos Santos
David Axelrod Social Media Platforms
He is active on his social media accounts and is often seen posting on his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. He has over 14.5K followers on Instagram and over 1.4 M followers on his Twitter accounts.