Students to get divergent views on 2012 presidential election

Dee Dee Myers and Jeb Bush '71 kick off 2012 Kaleidoscope Speakers Program

September 17, 2012 --Over the course of the next few weeks, students will have the opportunity to hear contrasting perspectives on the 2012 presidential election. Dee Dee Myers, who served as White House press secretary during President Clinton’s first term, will speak first at the All-School Meeting on Thursday, September 27. The following week, on Wednesday, October 3, former Florida governor Jeb Bush ’71 will share his thoughts. Both visits are funded by the John H.Hosch III Memorial Fund.

The Academy invited the speakers as part of the Kaleidoscope Speakers Program, initiated last year as a way to ensure that a wider variety of perspectives inform discussions about important socio-political topics. The program is one of two new All-School Meeting programs. The annual Finis Origine Pendet, also launched last year, features alumni who discuss their Andover experiences and consequent journies.

Myers was the first woman and one of the youngest people to ever hold the job of White House press secretary. After leaving the White House, she filled the liberal chair on the CNBC political talk show “Equal Time,” and served as a consultant on NBC’s acclaimed drama, “The West Wing.” She frequently speaks on politics, the media, and women’s issues.

Before joining Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in the fall of 1991, Myers worked on a number of local, state, and national campaigns. A 1983 graduate of Santa Clara University, she currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Todd Purdum, national editor of “Vanity Fair,” and their children.

Bush, the son of President George H.W. Bush ’42 and brother of President George W. Bush ’64, was elected governor of Florida in 1998 and then reelected in 2002. Among other accomplishments, Bush led a dramatic improvement in Florida’s public educational system and signed the state’s Medicaid reform legislation, “Empowered Care,” in 2006.

Bush currently heads his own consulting business, Jeb Bush and Associates, where his clients range from small technology start-ups to well-known Fortune 500 companies. He is also the chair of Foundation for Excellence in Education.