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David Axelrod, the great strategist who masterminded President Barack Obama’s historic election campaigns, sits down with Emmy Award-winning NPR host Michel Martin to discuss his years as a young journalist, political consultant, and ultimately senior adviser to the president. From a young journalist in 1970s and 80s Chicago—where he reported on the dissolution of the last of the big city political machines—to his twenty-year friendship with Obama, to serving during two wars and an economic disaster, Axelrod offers a rich account of the man and the mind behind some of the greatest political changes of the last decade.
This event took place at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
David Axelrod is a 35-year veteran of American politics and journalism. Prior to becoming a political consultant, Axelrod spent eight years as a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune, including a stint as the City Hall bureau chief. As a political consultant, Axelrod has managed media and communications strategy for more than 150 local, state, and national campaigns. Axelrod most recently served as Senior Strategist to President Obama's successful re-election campaign. He served in that same role in then-Senator Obama's 2008 presidential campaign before going on to serve in the White House as Senior Advisor to the President. After the 2012 campaign, Axelrod founded the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
Michel Martin is heard across NPR programs bringing her 25+ years of journalistic experience to coverage of education, families, faith, race, and social issues. She also hosts NPR Presents Michel Martin, a national live event series. From 2007- 2014, Martin hosted Tell Me More, a daily news/talk show that dipped into thousands of conversations taking place in corridors of power and around kitchen tables alike.
