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, he continued in his education by attending Harvard Law School. In 1999, he earned his Juris Doctor degree. At this time, he holds memberships in the Maryland and Washington DC bars. During the Bush-Cheney campaign run in 2000, he served as National Field Director, as well as the regional political director for the primaries. He managed to make caucus history by gathering the highest percentage of Republican votes in Iowa. After this magnificent feat, he went on to serve as White House Director of Political Affairs from 2001 to 2003.
Ken Mehlman continued with his government work by becoming the 62nd chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the campaign manager for President George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004. As RNC chairman, he helped emphasize the need to reach out to the Hispanic and African American communities. This included historic speeches at the National Council of LaRaza, the NAACP, and the League of Latin American Citizens. During President George W. Bush’s first term, he served in high-level positions within Congress and the White House and was the White House political director during this Presidential term.
And then, Ken Mehlman has been compared by Michael Barone (author of The Almanac of American Politics) to Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. Michael Barone further solidifies this comparison by identifying his revolutionary approach to identifying new customers and constituents. He is a trustee of several organizations and entities, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Franklin & Marshall College, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Not only does he serve on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, but he also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.