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Patrick Gaspard
Department: White House
Position: Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs ( Appointed )
202-456-6257
Age: 41
Childhood State: Overseas
Previous State: New York
Campaigned For in 2008: Obama

Gaspard got his start in politics organizing demonstrations in New York City for social justice in Haiti in the mid-1980s, and that talent eventually led him to storied Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.

He was born in Kinshasa, Zaire, after his father, a political opponent of the Duvalier regime in Haiti, fled there. Gaspard's organizing prowess caught the eye of veteran Democratic operative Bill Lynch, who enlisted him to work for Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, who later became New York mayor.

In 1999, Dennis Rivera, president of Local 1199, recruited Gaspard, and he eventually became the union's executive vice president. The local granted him a leave to work as deputy national field director for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid. Gaspard, 41, never imagined himself working in the West Wing; citing his responsibilities at 1199, he had turned down several overtures to join the Obama campaign before becoming political director last June. Gaspard attended the School of Visual Arts and Columbia University.

National Journal

“Gaspard sees the potential for change – but only if there is agitation. That, he says, is where he comes in.”
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Sept 19, 2006

Rising Stars: 35 under 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York

Patrick Gaspard, 39
Vice President for Politics and Legislation, 1199SEIU

Patrick Gaspard says political activism is a Haitian birthright.
Gaspard’s involvement with 1199, regarded as one of the most powerful unions in the state, dates back to 1988 and Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid.

The next year he worked closely with the union to elect David Dinkins, the first black mayor in the city’s history.

More campaigns followed: in 1999, Gaspard was working as Council member Margarita Lopez’s chief of staff when Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by police officers in the Bronx.

The union was one of the central organizers of the civil disobedience that followed, and 1199 President Dennis Rivera and then-Political Director Bill Lynch asked Gaspard to coordinate those efforts. A position in the political department followed.

Now he is concentrating on 1199’s national campaign to help the Democrats take the House and Senate. Gaspard sees the potential for change – but only if there is agitation. That, he says, is where he comes in.

What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Raising two children of color in America.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“That’s the easiest question I’ve ever been asked – I want to begin to repair the imbalance in the Supreme Court by electing a Democratic President.”
— By Courtney McCleod

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December 4, 2008

And PATRICK GASPARD may very well be the most brilliant strategist and organizer you have never heard of.

“Patrick is the best political mind of his generation in New York and maybe the nation,” says Kevin Sheekey, who as Michael Bloomberg’s right-hand-man has frequently worked and battled with Gaspard.

“I wouldn’t dispute that,” said David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist and Gaspard’s cohort on the campaign trail. When reminded that such a title could be bestowed on Axelrod himself, the strategist said he was “happy to cede that” to Gaspard.

And yet, for all his abilities, there is shockingly little mention of Gaspard’s accomplishments in the public record. A Lexis Nexis search of his name from before the 2008 campaign reveals next to nothing, a far cry from the star-power personas of former White House political directors like Ed Rollins, Rahm Emanuel and Karl Rove.

“He is one of the most impactful people I have ever met in politics,” said Axelrod.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/04/obamas-glue-man-the-best_n_148415.html

PATRICK GASPARD went to Columbia University but never graduated.

See post #229

No Sheepskin? No Problem.

Which makes Patrick Gaspard so interesting. The Reliable Source has learned that the director of the Office of Political Affairs is the only top staffer who didn’t graduate from college. Nonetheless, he landed one of the most important jobs in the White House.

“He earned it the old-fashioned way, in the muck of street-level politics,” said Paul C. Light, an NYU professor of public service. It’s not unprecedented to have someone in a presidential administration without a college degree, said Light, but very rare at this level. Gaspard, at just 41 years old, has Karl Rove’s old job. (Rove never graduated either. Hmm, maybe you just can’t teach this stuff.)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2009/03/rs-gaspard30.html