James A. Johnson (businessman)

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For other uses of "James Johnson", see James Johnson (disambiguation).

James A. Johnson is a United States Democratic Party political figure. He was the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's failed 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection process for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. In the 2008 election, he is a member of the vice-presidential selection process for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama.

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[edit] Education

Johnson attended the University of Minnesota, and later received a Master of Public Policy degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He has been awarded honorary degrees from Howard University, Skidmore College, Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota.

[edit] Career

Johnson has long been one of Washington's most prominent leaders, holding leadership positions in business, the arts, and politics.

Johnson began his career as a faculty member at Princeton University, later moving on to the United States Senate as a staff member and to the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corp.) as director of public affairs. He was executive assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale during the entire Carter Administration (1977-1981). Later, he founded and headed Public Strategies, a private consulting firm, from 1981 to 1985 before leaving for Lehman Brothers.

From 1991 to 1998, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the quasi-public organization that guarantees mortgages for millions of American homeowners. Previously, he was vice chairman of Fannie Mae (1990-1991) and a managing director with Lehman Brothers (1985-1990).

As of 2006, he is a vice chairman of the private banking firm Perseus LLC, a position he has held since 2001. He is also a board member at Goldman Sachs, Gannett Company, Inc., a media holding group, KB Home, a home construction firm, Target Corporation, Temple-Inland, and UnitedHealth Group.

Johnson has also served as chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Arts (1996-2004) and the Brookings Institution (1994-2003). He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission.

On May 22, 2008, Democratic Party officials confidentially divulged that Obama had asked Johnson "to lead the process" for selecting Obama's running mate.[1] On Wednesday, June 4, 2008, Obama announced the formation of a three person committee to vet vice presidential candidates, including Johnson.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ NY Times, 2008-05-22
  2. ^ Associated Press, 2008-06-04

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[edit] Further reading