Understanding Ken Mehlman’s Political and Legal Experience

March 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Ken Mehlman started his academics in the late 1980s.  He was awarded a BA in Government after attending Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA in 1988.  Thereafter, Ken continued in his education by attending Harvard Law School.  In 1999, he earned his Juris Doctor degree.  At this time, Ken Mehlman holds memberships in the Maryland and Washington DC bars.


At Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.


A member of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Ken Mehlman oversees the firm's global external affairs activities.  His duties include regulatory affairs, public policy, corporate marketing, communications, and engagement with both company key stakeholders and the KKR firm. Before joining KKR, Ken held a partnership at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld.  He assisted business and individuals in managing risk and helped them grab opportunities at the center of public and business policy.


Political roles and policy


Ken Mehlman spent many years on Capitol Hill in policy and held several political roles to include Congressman Lamar S. Smith's Legislative Director and Congresswoman Kay Granger's Chief of Staff.


During the Bush-Cheney campaign run in 2000, Ken Mehlman served as National Field Director, as well as the regional political director for the primaries.  Ken managed to make caucus history by gathering the highest percentage of Republican votes in Iowa.  After this magnificent feat, Ken went on to serve as White House Director of Political Affairs from 2001 to 2003.


During President George Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, Ken Mehlman served as 62nd chairman of the Republican National Committee, as well as the President's campaign manager.  Ken has been compared to the very successful Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton, by Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics.  Michael likened Ken Mehlman's revolutionary approach to identifying new constituents and clients to the very same approaches taken by Sam Walton.  Ken Mehlman has managed to serve in several high level positions in Congress and the White House, proving himself to be a political dynamo.


In November of 2004, then President George W. Bush made the statement in a press release that Ken Mehlman served the Administration and the Republican Party with distinction and honor.  The President went on to say that as his campaign manager, Ken helped the President and his party to achieve their historical election night gains.


Beyond work


Ken Mehlman is also very busy outside of his daily work life.  He is a trustee of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as Franklin & Marshall College.  He proudly serves on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard Institute of Politics, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds an executive leadership cabinet membership within the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation.


In January of 2005, Ken Mehlman was awarded “Campaign Manager of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants.  Ken was given this prestigious award in recognition of his exceedingly successful management of the presidential ticket for Bush-Cheney.