Jerry Abramson

Jerry Abramson


White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office November 17, 2014
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	David Agnew
55th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
In office December 13, 2011 – November 13, 2014
Governor	Steve Beshear
Preceded by	Daniel Mongiardo
Succeeded by	Crit Luallen
1st Mayor of Louisville Metro
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Greg Fischer
47th Mayor of Louisville
In office January 1, 1986 – January 1, 1999
Preceded by	Harvey Sloane
Succeeded by	David Armstrong
Personal details
Born	Jerry Edwin Abramson (1946-09-12) September 12, 1946 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Madeline
Alma mater	Indiana University, Bloomington Georgetown University
Religion	Judaism

Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is a Democratic politician who was the 55th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.^[1] On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as Lieutenant Governor to accept the job of Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama White House. He was replaced by former State Auditor Crit Luallen.^[2]

Abramson previously served as the Mayor of Louisville for an unprecedented two decades. He was the only three-term mayor of the old city of Louisville (1986-1999) and subsequently served two terms as the first mayor of the consolidated city-county of Louisville Metro (2003-2011).

Abramson's long period of service to Louisville as its mayor, as well as the weak opposition he faced in mayoral elections, led to the local nickname of "mayor for life", a title frequently used by Louisville's own popular radio personality Terry Meiners. Abramson's popularity resulted in Bluegrass Poll approval ratings ranging from a 91 percent high in 1990 to a 73 percent low in 1994.^[3]

From 1993 to 1994, he was President of the United States Conference of Mayors. He was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[4] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

Abramson has also served as an executive-in-residence at Bellarmine University.^[5]

Early life

Abramson grew up in the Louisville suburb of Strathmoor Village, Kentucky.^[6] Before serving as a mayor of Louisville, he worked at Abramson's Market at 738 South Preston Street^[6] in Louisville's Smoketown neighborhood, then owned by his father Roy and founded by his grandparents. He graduated from Seneca High School and served for two years in the Army, but did not see combat.

While a student at Indiana University Bloomington, Abramson became active in politics by volunteering for Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 campaign for president. After graduating from IU, Abramson attended Georgetown University Law School.^[6]

Abramson practiced law with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, PLLC. Before his first run for mayor, Abramson also served as alderman for two terms and as general counsel to governor John Y. Brown, Jr.^[6]

Mayor of Louisville

In the 1985 general election, Abramson defeated the Republican candidate Bob Heleringer, a conservative member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1980 to 2002. Abramson was highly popular as mayor from 1986 to 1999 because of growth in the Louisville economy as the decline in urban population that began in the 1950s slowed greatly. Abramson began the nonprofit civic beautification program Operation Brightside, which included the $700 million expansion of Louisville International Airport. He worked to revitalize the city's waterfront with the creation of Waterfront Park and expanded the local economy by recruiting the international headquarters for Tricon Global Restaurants (now Yum! Brands), the Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Parcel Service Air Hub 2000 (a facility now known as Worldport).

Abramson normally would have left office in 1998. However, his original third term was extended by one year as part of a state-mandated transition to align the dates of local and federal elections.

Subsequent to his first tenure as mayor, Abramson practiced law with the Frost Brown Todd firm and taught at Bellarmine University.^[7]

Mayor of Louisville Metro

Abramson while serving as Mayor

After the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County was approved, the previous term limits no longer applied. Abramson was easily elected the first Mayor of Louisville Metro in 2002 by 73.4 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Jack Early, former mayor of Hurstbourne, Kentucky, a major suburb of Louisville.^[8]

One of Abramson's first actions as Metro Mayor was to appoint Robert C. White Chief of the troubled Louisville Metro Police Department, the first African-American to hold the post. The move proved to be politically wise, helping to calm criticism of the department from the black community in Louisville.^[9]

Abramson was re-elected mayor in November 2006; his opponents were Republican Metro Council member Kelly Downard^[10] and Independent Ed Springston.

Abramson is the first person of Jewish faith to have served as mayor of Louisville. He lives in the Crescent Hill neighborhood with his wife, Madeline.^[6]

Kentucky Monthly magazine's readers voted Abramson "Kentucky's Best" civic figure five times (2002–2006).

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

On July 19, 2009, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down after his second term as Mayor of Louisville Metro to run as Lieutenant Governor in his re-election campaign in 2011. This came after Dan Mongiardo decided to run for U.S. Senate. Since Abramson's planned departure was announced, many candidates announced they would run to succeed him in 2010.^[11] Businessman Greg Fischer won the Democratic nomination and general election to succeed Abramson.

The Beshear-Abramson ticket won in a landslide against Senate President David Williams and his running mate Richie Farmer. Abramson took office as the 55th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky on December 13, 2011. His political future had been a subject of considerable speculation, but in an August 2013 speech before the Elizabethtown Rotary Club, he announced that he would not run for governor in 2015, saying,^[12]

I would like to in the next chapter of my life focus on one thing I really believe will make a significant difference in the development of Kentucky. And that focus is on education.

Resignation as Lt. Governor and Presidential Appointment

On November 6, 2014, Abramson announced that he had been appointed by President Barack Obama to the position of Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.^[13] Abramson also informed Gov. Beshear of his intention to resign as Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky effective November 13, 2014 at 5:00 PM.^[14] Gov. Beshear also announced on November 6 his appointment of former State Auditor Crit Luallen to serve out the remainder of Abramson's term.^[14]

References

↑ Sanders, Chase (2011-11-08). "Gubernatorial race: Beshear wins second term". Kentucky Kernel. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
↑ Loftus, Tom (2014-11-06). "Abramson resigns to work for Obama". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
↑ Gerth, Joseph (2005-02-18). "The Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll; Mayor, council get good job review". Courier-Journal. pp. 1A.
↑ "Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members". Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
↑ "Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson Joins Bellarmine University as Executive-in-Residence in 2011". Retrieved January 7, 2010.
1 2 3 4 5 Gerth, Joseph (2006-10-22). "Friends turn foes for mayoral campaign". Louisville, Kentucky: The Courier-Journal. p. 1A.
↑ Rodriguez, Nancy (2002-10-27). "Louisville/Jefferson County Mayor; Abramson looks toward biggest career challenge". The Courier-Journal.
↑ Rodriguez, Nancy (2002-11-06). "ELECTION 2002; Abramson wins easily, eyes future". The Courier-Journal.
↑ Gerth, Joseph (2002-12-19). "White named police chief". The Courier-Journal.
↑ Gerth, Joseph (2006-11-07). "Abramson claims victory". The Courier-Journal.
↑ Gerth, Joseph (2009-07-19). "Abramson to be Beshear's running mate in 2011". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
↑ Brammer, Jack (August 6, 2013). "Lt. Gov. Abramson says he won't seek Kentucky governor's office in 2015". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
↑
1 2 WKYT. "Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson resigns; Governor appoints successor".

External links

"Abramson for Mayor campaign website". Archived from the original on 2007-05-19.
Beshear/Abramson 2011
Mayor's webpage on Louisville Metro Government website
Profile in The Economist
The U.S. Conference of Mayors website

Political offices
Preceded by Harvey Sloane	Mayor of Louisville 1986–1999	Succeeded by David Armstrong
New office	Mayor of Louisville Metro 2003–2011	Succeeded by Greg Fischer
Preceded by Daniel Mongiardo	Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 2011–2014	Succeeded by Crit Luallen
Party political offices
Preceded by Daniel Mongiardo	Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 2011	Succeeded by Sannie Overly

Obama Administration personnel

Cabinet and cabinet-level

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
Secretary of State	John Kerry	2013–	Secretary of Treasury	Jack Lew	2013–
Secretary of Defense	Ashton Carter	2015–	Attorney General	Loretta Lynch	2015–
Secretary of the Interior	Sally Jewell	2013–	Secretary of Agriculture	Tom Vilsack	2009–
Secretary of Commerce	Penny Pritzker	2013–	Secretary of Labor	Thomas Perez	2013–
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Sylvia Mathews Burwell	2014–	Secretary of Education Secretary of Transportation	Arne Duncan Anthony Foxx	2009– 2013–
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Julian Castro	2014–	Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Robert A. McDonald	2014–
Secretary of Energy	Ernest Moniz	2013–	Secretary of Homeland Security	Jeh Johnson	2013–

Vice President	Joe Biden	2009–	White House Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough	2013–
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Shaun Donovan	2014–	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Gina McCarthy	2013–
Ambassador to the United Nations	Samantha Power	2013–	Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers	Jason Furman	2013–
Trade Representative	Michael Froman	2013–	Administrator of the Small Business Administration	Maria Contreras-Sweet	2014–

Below solid line: Granted Cabinet rank although not automatically part of the Cabinet. See also: Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet

Executive Office of the President

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
White House Chief of Staff White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy	Rahm Emanuel Pete Rouse William M. Daley Jack Lew Denis R. McDonough Mona Sutphen Nancy-Ann DeParle Rob Nabors	2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2013–15	National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan	Jim Jones Thomas E. Donilon Susan Rice Thomas E. Donilon Denis McDonough Tony Blinken Avril Haines Douglas Lute^†	2009–10 2010–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–13 2013–14 2015– 2009–13
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations	Jim Messina Alyssa Mastromonaco Anita Decker Breckenridge	2009–11 2011–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security	Ben Rhodes John O. Brennan Lisa Monaco	2009– 2009–13 2013–
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning	Mark B. Childress Kristie Canegallo	2012–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor and NSC Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough Brooke Anderson	2009–10 2011–12
Senior Advisor to the President	David Axelrod David Plouffe Daniel Pfeiffer Shailagh Murray	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–	White House Communications Director	Anita Dunn Daniel Pfeiffer Jennifer Palmieri Jen Psaki	2009 2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Senior Advisor to the President Counselor to the President	Pete Rouse Brian Deese Pete Rouse John Podesta	2009–10 2015– 2011–13 2014–15	Deputy White House Communications Director	Jen Psaki Jennifer Palmieri Amy Brundage	2009–11 2011–14 2014–15
Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of Public Engagement Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Director, National Economic Council	Valerie Jarrett Christina Tchen Jon Carson Paulette Aniskoff Cecilia Muñoz David Agnew Jerry Abramson Lawrence Summers Gene Sperling Jeffrey Zients	2009– 2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–10 2011–14 2014–	White House Press Secretary Deputy Press Secretary Director of Special Projects Director of Speechwriting White House Counsel	Robert Gibbs Jay Carney Josh Earnest Bill Burton Josh Earnest Eric Schultz Stephanie Cutter Jon Favreau Cody Keenan Greg Craig Robert Bauer Kathryn Ruemmler W. Neil Eggleston	2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2014– 2010–11 2009–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Director, National Economic Council Deputy Director, National Economic Council Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Diana Farrell Brian Deese Jason Furman Paul Volcker	2009–11 2011–13 2009–13 2009–11	Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Phil Schiliro Rob Nabors Miguel Rodriguez Katie Beirne Fallon	2009–11 2011–13 2013 2013–
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors	Christina Romer Austan Goolsbee Jason Furman	2009–10 2010–13 2013–	Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Lisa Konwinski Amy Rosenbaum	2009– 2014–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Katharine Abraham	2011–	Executive Clerk	George T. Saunders^† David Kalbaugh	2009–12 2012–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Cecilia Rouse	2009–	Director, Office of Political Affairs	Patrick Gaspard David Simas	2009–11 2013–
Director, Office of Management and Budget	Peter R. Orszag Jack Lew Jeffrey Zients Sylvia Mathews Burwell Brian Deese Shaun Donovan	2009–10 2010–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014 2014–	Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Officer	Aneesh Chopra Todd Park Megan Smith Vivek Kundra Steven VanRoekel Tony Scott	2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–11 2011–14 2015–
Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients	2009–13	Director, Office of Presidential Personnel	Nancy Hogan Johnathan McBride Valerie Green	2010–14 2014–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Liebman Heather Higginbottom Brian Deese	2010 2011–13 2013–15	Director of Scheduling and Advance Director, White House Military Office	Alyssa Mastromonaco Danielle White Crutchfield George D. Mulligan, Jr. Emmett Beliveau	2009–11 2011– 2009–13 2013–
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk Michael Froman	2009–13 2013–	Cabinet Secretary	Chris Lu Broderick Johnson	2009–13 2013–
Director, Domestic Policy Council	Melody Barnes Cecilia Muñoz	2009–12 2012–	Deputy Cabinet Secretary	Liz Sears Smith Rachana Bhowmik Michael Robertson Gaurab Bansal	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Domestic Policy Council	Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman	2009–11 2011–	Staff Secretary	Lisa Brown Rajesh De Douglas Kramer Joani Walsh	2009–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois Melissa Rogers	2009–2013 2013–	Assistant to the President for Management and Administration	Bradley Kiley Katy Kale Maju Varghese	2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Director, Office of Health Reform	Nancy-Ann DeParle	2009–11	Director, Oval Office Operations	Micaela Fernandez Brian Mosteller	2009–12 2012–
Deputy Director, Office of Health Reform	Jeanne Lambrew	2009–2011	Personal Aide to the President	Reggie Love Marvin Nicholson	2009–11 2011–
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy	Carol Browner	2009–11	Personal Secretary to the President	Katie Johnson Anita Decker Breckenridge Ferial Govashiri	2009–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Heather Zichal Dan Utech	2009–2013 2013–	Special Projects Coordinator and Confidential Assistant to the President	Eugene Kang	2009–11
Director, Council on Environmental Quality	Nancy Sutley Michael Boots	2009–2014 2014–	Director, Office of National AIDS Policy	Jeffrey Crowley Grant Cofax Douglas Brooks	2009–2011 2012–2014 2014–
Chief of Staff to the First Lady	Jackie Norris Susan Sher Christina Tchen	2009 2009–10 2011–	Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	Gil Kerlikowske Michael Botticelli	2009–14 2014–
White House Social Secretary	Desirée Rogers Julianna Smoot Jeremy Bernard Deesha Dyer	2009–10 2010–11 2011–15 2015–	Director, Office of Urban Affairs	Adolfo Carrión, Jr. Racquel Russell	2009–2010 2010–
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren	2009–

^*Senate-confirmation pending. †Remained from previous administration (s).

Office of the Vice President

Position	Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Vice President	Steve Ricchetti
Counsel to the Vice President	Cynthia Hogan
Counselor to the Vice President	Mike Donilon
Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison	Evan Ryan
Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Communications	Shailagh Murray
Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President	Shailagh Murray
Deputy National Security Adviser to the Vice President	Brian McKeon
Residence Manager and Social Secretary for the Vice President and Second Lady	Carlos Elizondo
National Security Adviser to the Vice President	Tony Blinken

Position	Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Second Lady	Catherine M. Russell
Director of Administration for the Office of the Vice President	Moises Vela
Domestic Policy Adviser to the Vice President	Terrell McSweeny
Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President	Jared Bernstein
Press Secretary to the Vice President	Elizabeth Alexander
Deputy Press Secretary to the Vice President	Annie Tomasini
Director of Legislative Affairs	Sudafi Henry
Director of Communications for the Second Lady	Courtney O’Donnell

Lieutenant Governors of Kentucky

Bullitt Caldwell Posey Slaughter (1st time) Hickman Slaughter (2nd time) Barry McAfee Breathitt J. Morehead Wickliffe M. Thomson Dixon Helm J. Thompson Hardy Boyd Jacob Stevenson Carlisle Underwood Cantrill Hindman Bryan Alford Worthington Marshall Beckham Thorne Cox McDermott Black Ballard Denhardt Breathitt, Jr. Chandler Johnson Myers Tuggle Wetherby Beauchamp Waterfield Wyatt Waterfield Ford Carroll Stovall Collins Beshear Jones Patton Henry Pence Mongiardo Abramson Luallen Hampton

Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky

Bucklin Joyes Cocke Kaye Beatty Vance Delph Speed Barbee Pilcher Riley Crawford Kaye Tomppert Lithgow Bunce Baxter Jacob Reed Lyons Tyler King Todd Weaver Grainger Barth Bingham Grinstead Head Buschemeyer Smith Quin Will O'Neal Harrison Miller Scholtz Wyatt Taylor Farnsley Broaddus Hoblitzell Cowger Schmied Burke Sloane Stansbury Sloane Abramson Armstrong Abramson Fischer

Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors

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