David Axelrod (Political Analyst) Bio, Age, Wife, CNN, Podcast, Book, Net Worth, Salary

David Axelrod Biography

David Axelrod is an American political consultant and analyst as well as a former White House official. Axelrod is best known for his role as the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. After Barack Obama was voted in as the president of the United States, David was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President.

Currently, Axelrod serves as director of the University of Chicago’s non-partisan Institute of Politics.

David studied at Public School 40 in Manhattan. He later graduated in 1972 from the Stuyvesant High School in New York. In addition, Axelrod went to the University of Chicago where he majored in Political Science.

David Axelrod CNN

Immediately after college, Chicago Tribune hired him as a political writer. He worked for eight years, covering national, local, and state politics, becoming the youngest political writer in 1981. At the age of 27, David became the City Hall Bureau Chief and also a political columnist for the paper.

In 1984, Axelrod left the Tribune to join the U.S campaigns for Senator Paul Simon as a communications director. After a few weeks of working, he was promoted to co-campaign manager.

In addition, in 1985, David formed his own political consultancy firm, Axelrod & Associates. His next job led to the re-election campaign of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor while still spearheading Simon’s campaign for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination. These tasks gave him big trust in working with black politicians.

From his credit, David later became a key player in mayoral campaigns of black candidates such as Dennis Archer in Detroit, Michael R. White in Cleveland, John F. Street in Philadelphia, Lee P. Brown in Houston, and Anthony A. Williams in Washington D.C.

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All this took a long course up to 2008 when he took a break from the presidential campaigns. This was a bit tough for him as five of the presidential candidates; Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Tom Vilsack, and Chris Dodd were his past clients.

Since he had already initialized Obama’s campaign through a five-minute video released on January 16, 2017, David decided to take it to the end. He stepped in to serve as the chief strategist and media advisor for Obama.

Moreover, David’s campaign strategy of change played a major role in Obama’s election in the 2008 presidential elections. After the winning of President Barack Obama, David was named a senior advisor to Obama’s administration. Furthermore, his roles included crafting policy and communicating the president’s message in coordination with the President, the Obama Administration, the White House communication team, and speechwriters.

He then left the position on January 28, 2011, to help in strategizing Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Later in 2013, he established a bipartisan Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago where he is currently the director.

David Axelrod Age

How old is David Axelrod? Axelrod is 68 years old as of 2023. He was born on February 22, 1955, in New York City, New York, the United States of America. In addition, he celebrates his birthday on the 22nd of February every year.

David Axelrod Family

Axelrod was raised in Stuyvesant Town, New York City. Moreover, he grew up in a liberal Jewish family and had his bar mitzvah ceremony at the Brotherhood Synagogue in Manhattan. Myril Bennett (née Davidson) is Axelrod’s mother. His mother worked as a journalist at PM which is a 1940s newspaper. Additionally, she has also worked as an advertising executive at Young & Rubicam. 

Joseph Axelrod is Axelrod‘s father. In addition, Joseph migrated from Eastern Europe to the US at the age of eleven and has worked as a psychologist. Unfortunately, Axelrod‘s father committed suicide in 1977 around the time of his graduation.

David Axelrod Wife

Axelrod is married to Susan Landau since 1979. The couple met at the University where Susan was a business student. Susan is the daughter of Richard L. Landau, a research doctor. David and Susan have three children namely; Lauren, Michael, and Ethan. Their first child, Lauren was born in June 1981. However, at age seven, the child was diagnosed with epilepsy.

David Axelrod CNN | Podcast

Axelrod joined CNN in September 2015 after serving at NBC News and MSNBC as a senior political analyst. He started working at CNN as a senior political commentator. Axelrod hosts The Axe Files, a show that podcast jointly produced by CNN and his institute.

David Axelrod Books

• Believer: My Forty Years in Politics (February 2015)
• Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns
• The Bullet Catch: Murder by Misadventure
• The Cartographer’s Melancholy
• Raising Our Voices: An Anthology of Oregon Poets Against the War
• Troubled Intimacies: A Life in the Interior West
• est Guide: Loreto: Baja California Sur, Mexico
• Big Balls Better: Essays on Courage and Culture Shock

David Axelrod Net Worth

Axelrod has an estimated net worth of between $1 million- $5 million. His income is mainly from his successful career as a journalist.

David Axelrod Salary

Axelrod receives an estimated annual salary ranging from $45,500 – $110,500.