Harold M. Ickes
Encyclopedia
Harold McEwen Ickes (ˈɪkiːz; born September 4, 1939) was White House Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton
. He is the son of Harold L. Ickes
, who was Secretary of the Interior
under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ickes is a graduate of Stanford University
(1964, AB, Economics) and Columbia Law School
. Ickes was a student civil rights activist in the 1960s and took part in Freedom Summer
. He has practiced labor law for many years in New York City. He was the model for the Primary Colors character Howard Fergerson.
, Birch Bayh
, Morris Udall, Ted Kennedy
and Jesse Jackson
. In 1989, he was a senior advisor to David Dinkins
' successful campaign for mayor of New York City. Ickes is a registered lobbyist with the Ickes and Enright Group.
Harold M. Ickes, is currently Co-Chair of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.’s Labor and Government Relations practice groups, also manages the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Prior to joining President Clinton’s White House as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff (1994-1997), Mr. Ickes was a director of Meyer, Suozzi for 14 years. He rejoined the firm in 1998.
In his government relations practice, Mr. Ickes provides counsel and representation to business and union clients on legislative, governmental regulation and procurement matters. This includes providing strategic advice, planning and representation for business, labor, governmental and non-profit organizations.
Along with Basil A. Paterson, the former New York Secretary of State, State Senator, and the New York City Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations and Personnel, Mr. Ickes co-chairs the firm’s extensive labor practice, providing counsel to dozens of local and international unions in the health care, transportation, package delivery, hotel, construction, communications, distribution, manufacturing, retail food, and other industries in the private and public sectors.
Since 2005, Ickes has been associated with a progressive data collection and voter file organization called "Catalist" (formerly "Data Warehouse"). He currently serves as Catalist's President.
In November 2009, he joined New York Governor David Paterson
's election campaign as a senior adviser .
's presidential campaign in New York in 1992, persuading state Democrats to stand by Clinton despite the controversy over Gennifer Flowers
.
In the Clinton administration, Ickes served as Deputy Chief of Staff under Leon Panetta
. In a lengthy New York Times profile of Ickes in 1997, Michael Lewis nicknamed Ickes "the Garbage Man" and noted that 'Ickes has been caught up in so many of Clinton's scandals and crises that he came to describe his function in the White House as 'director of the sanitation department'.' When Erskine Bowles
was appointed Chief of Staff after Clinton's 1996 re-election, he requested to have input in choosing his subordinates, and so Ickes was dismissed from his position. It has also been suggested that Ickes resigned to take the fall for President Clinton, as Republican Senator Fred Thompson had the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
probe Clinton's campaign finances.
In 2000, he was a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's
Senate
campaign. He now heads the Media Fund
, a 527 committee. Following the 2004 elections, he was a contender against Howard Dean
for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee
(DNC).
Ickes worked as a political strategist for Hillary Clinton's failed campaign in the 2008 presidential election
. Ickes reportedly had a poor relationship with campaign strategist Mark Penn
. This acrimony carried over from their days in President Bill Clinton
's administration.
as the second primary state, after New Hampshire
, which lost to South Carolina
. With all but one member of the Rules and Bylaws Commission, Ickes voted in August 2007 to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates. Clinton won the vote in Florida after neither candidate campaigned there and voters were told that their vote would not count, in acco rdance with the earlier decision.
At a contentious meeting of the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
in Washington, DC, on May 31, 2008, Ickes voted in favor of a compromise resolution to allow the Florida delegation to be seated with each delegate having one half vote giving presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) 105 pledged delegates (52.5 votes), candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) 67 delegates (33.5 votes), and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) 13 delegates (6.5 votes); and against a resolution proposed by the Michigan Democratic Party to seat the Michigan delegation with 69 delegates (34.5 votes) pledged to Sen. Clinton and 59 delegates (29.5 votes) for Sen. Obama (IL) at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, in August, 2008. (The net result was a gain of 87 delegate votes for Clinton and 63 for Obama.) In the interest of "unifying our Party" the Florida resolution was approved by a unanimous vote of 27–0, while the more controversial Michigan resolution passed by a vote of 19 to 8. The resolutions also provided that the delegates from both states should be slated under Rules 5, 6, 7, and 12, which outline the candidate's right of approval.
"This motion will hijack – hijack – remove four delegates won by Hillary Clinton," Ickes said in opposing the Michigan motion. "This body of 30 individuals has decided that they're going to substitute their judgment for 600,000 [Michigan] voters." Immediately prior to the vote on the motion, Ickes announced that candidate Clinton would reserve the right to appeal the Rules Committee's approval of the Michigan resolution to the DNC Credentials Committee. The option of appeal and a convention fight was rendered moot, as Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Obama on June 7.
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. He is the son of Harold L. Ickes
Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...
, who was Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ickes is a graduate of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(1964, AB, Economics) and Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
. Ickes was a student civil rights activist in the 1960s and took part in Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi which had historically excluded most blacks from voting...
. He has practiced labor law for many years in New York City. He was the model for the Primary Colors character Howard Fergerson.
Career
He has been active in Democratic politics for over forty years, working in the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthyEugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, Birch Bayh
Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...
, Morris Udall, Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
and Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
. In 1989, he was a senior advisor to David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
' successful campaign for mayor of New York City. Ickes is a registered lobbyist with the Ickes and Enright Group.
Harold M. Ickes, is currently Co-Chair of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.’s Labor and Government Relations practice groups, also manages the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Prior to joining President Clinton’s White House as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff (1994-1997), Mr. Ickes was a director of Meyer, Suozzi for 14 years. He rejoined the firm in 1998.
In his government relations practice, Mr. Ickes provides counsel and representation to business and union clients on legislative, governmental regulation and procurement matters. This includes providing strategic advice, planning and representation for business, labor, governmental and non-profit organizations.
Along with Basil A. Paterson, the former New York Secretary of State, State Senator, and the New York City Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations and Personnel, Mr. Ickes co-chairs the firm’s extensive labor practice, providing counsel to dozens of local and international unions in the health care, transportation, package delivery, hotel, construction, communications, distribution, manufacturing, retail food, and other industries in the private and public sectors.
Since 2005, Ickes has been associated with a progressive data collection and voter file organization called "Catalist" (formerly "Data Warehouse"). He currently serves as Catalist's President.
In November 2009, he joined New York Governor David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
's election campaign as a senior adviser .
Clinton Administration
He chaired Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's presidential campaign in New York in 1992, persuading state Democrats to stand by Clinton despite the controversy over Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers
Gennifer Flowers is a model and actress who allegedly had a sexual relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Prior to Bill Clinton's presidency, she also posed nude for Penthouse magazine and was an actress in two films and one TV show...
.
In the Clinton administration, Ickes served as Deputy Chief of Staff under Leon Panetta
Leon Panetta
Leon Edward Panetta is the 23rd and current United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama since 2011. Prior to taking office, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency...
. In a lengthy New York Times profile of Ickes in 1997, Michael Lewis nicknamed Ickes "the Garbage Man" and noted that 'Ickes has been caught up in so many of Clinton's scandals and crises that he came to describe his function in the White House as 'director of the sanitation department'.' When Erskine Bowles
Erskine Bowles
Erskine Boyce Bowles is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the President of the University of North Carolina system...
was appointed Chief of Staff after Clinton's 1996 re-election, he requested to have input in choosing his subordinates, and so Ickes was dismissed from his position. It has also been suggested that Ickes resigned to take the fall for President Clinton, as Republican Senator Fred Thompson had the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and...
probe Clinton's campaign finances.
In 2000, he was a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
campaign. He now heads the Media Fund
Media Fund
The Media Fund is a 527 group, active in U.S. politics, which supported Democrat John Kerry's campaign for President. It was formed in 2002, and is led by Harold M. Ickes, a former aide to President Bill Clinton. Its chief fundraiser is Ellen Malcolm, a former fundraiser for EMILY's List. ...
, a 527 committee. Following the 2004 elections, he was a contender against Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
(DNC).
Ickes worked as a political strategist for Hillary Clinton's failed campaign in the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. Ickes reportedly had a poor relationship with campaign strategist Mark Penn
Mark Penn
Mark J. Penn , is the worldwide CEO of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping...
. This acrimony carried over from their days in President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's administration.
DNC rules and bylaws committee
As a member of the DNC's Rules Committee he was a proponent of adding other states besides Iowa and New Hampshire early on in the Presidential nominating calendar. He was unsuccessful in his promotion of AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
as the second primary state, after New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, which lost to South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. With all but one member of the Rules and Bylaws Commission, Ickes voted in August 2007 to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates. Clinton won the vote in Florida after neither candidate campaigned there and voters were told that their vote would not count, in acco rdance with the earlier decision.
At a contentious meeting of the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Marriott Wardman Park
The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel is a Marriott International property in Washington, D.C.. The hotel is located in the Woodley Park neighborhood at 2600 Woodley Road, NW and Connecticut Avenue, NW, adjacent the Woodley Park station of the Washington Metro system.The Wardman Park is the largest...
in Washington, DC, on May 31, 2008, Ickes voted in favor of a compromise resolution to allow the Florida delegation to be seated with each delegate having one half vote giving presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) 105 pledged delegates (52.5 votes), candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) 67 delegates (33.5 votes), and former Sen. John Edwards (NC) 13 delegates (6.5 votes); and against a resolution proposed by the Michigan Democratic Party to seat the Michigan delegation with 69 delegates (34.5 votes) pledged to Sen. Clinton and 59 delegates (29.5 votes) for Sen. Obama (IL) at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, in August, 2008. (The net result was a gain of 87 delegate votes for Clinton and 63 for Obama.) In the interest of "unifying our Party" the Florida resolution was approved by a unanimous vote of 27–0, while the more controversial Michigan resolution passed by a vote of 19 to 8. The resolutions also provided that the delegates from both states should be slated under Rules 5, 6, 7, and 12, which outline the candidate's right of approval.
"This motion will hijack – hijack – remove four delegates won by Hillary Clinton," Ickes said in opposing the Michigan motion. "This body of 30 individuals has decided that they're going to substitute their judgment for 600,000 [Michigan] voters." Immediately prior to the vote on the motion, Ickes announced that candidate Clinton would reserve the right to appeal the Rules Committee's approval of the Michigan resolution to the DNC Credentials Committee. The option of appeal and a convention fight was rendered moot, as Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Obama on June 7.