David Halperin

Senior Vice President and Director, Campus Progress

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David Halperin is a Senior Vice President at American Progress and the Director of Campus Progress, the Center's dynamic effort to help young people make their voices heard on issues that matter and to empower new generations of progressive leaders.

A former speechwriter for both President Bill Clinton and presidential candidate Howard Dean, Halperin has over 15 years of experience writing, speaking, working in government, litigating, and organizing on a wide range of issues, including national security policy, domestic issues, technology and media policy, constitutional law, and legal ethics.

Halperin joined American Progress in September 2004 to build Campus Progress, which was launched in February 2005. Halperin previously worked as a consultant and attorney, advising groups including Public Citizen, Greenpeace, and Democracy for America (2003-04); senior policy advisor and speechwriter for Howard Dean's presidential campaign (2003-04); founding executive director of the American Constitution Society (2001-03); special assistant to the president for national security affairs and director for speechwriting at the National Security Council in the Clinton White House (1997-2000); fellow of the Harvard Law School Berkman Center for Internet and Society (1997); legal and policy advisor to Ralph Nader (1995-97); solo legal practitioner and legal associate to Professor Laurence Tribe (1991, 1994-97); co-founder of the Internet company Progressive Networks (now RealNetworks) (1993-94); counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee (1991-93); law clerk to U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell (1989-91); research assistant to Robert McNamara (1985-86); and research analyst at the Arms Control Association (1984-86).

Halperin's articles have appeared in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, National Law Journal, Foreign Policy, Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, and many other publications. He has been interviewed by media ranging from ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR, to the The New York Times and The Washington Post, to local media around the country. Halperin graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School.