Robert Reich

Robert Bernard Reich is an American scholar, author, lawyer, and public policy commentator who served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997 under President Bill Clinton. Confirmed by the Senate without controversy, he was a key member of Clinton’s economic team, advising on a broad range of domestic policies before returning to academia where he taught at Harvard University, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his academic work, Reich has written numerous books on economics and politics, produced documentary films, and remained active in public debate through blogging and leadership roles with civic organizations.

Early life and career

Robert Bernard Reich was born on June 24, 1946, into a Jewish family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His parents were Mildred Freshman (née Dorf) and Edwin Saul Reich; the latter owned a women's clothing store. As a teenager, Reich was diagnosed with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia—also known as Fairbank’s disease—which caused short stature and other physical limitations. The condition made him a target of bullying, prompting him to seek protection from older boys, one of whom was Michael Schwerner, a civil rights worker who would later be murdered in Mississippi in 1964 while registering African‑American voters. Reich has cited this event as a formative influence that motivated him to defend the powerless and give voice to those without representation.

He attended John Jay High School in Cross River, New York, where he earned a National Merit Scholarship. In 1968, he graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in history. While at Dartmouth, he dated Hillary Rodham (later Clinton), then an undergraduate at Wellesley College. After college, Reich was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at University College, Oxford, where he met Bill Clinton, who would also be a Rhodes Scholar.

During the Vietnam War era, Reich was drafted but did not pass the physical examination because his height—4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m)—fell below the required minimum of 5 feet (1.52 m). He earned an M.A. from Oxford in 1970 and subsequently obtained a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. At Yale, he was classmates with several prominent figures, including Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham, Clarence Thomas, Michael Medved, and Richard Blumenthal.

Reich’s early professional career included clerking for Judge Frank M. Coffin, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1973–1974), and serving as an assistant to U.S. Solicitor General Robert Bork (1974–1976). In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him director of the policy planning staff at the Federal Trade Commission.

From 1980 until 1992, Reich taught at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he authored a series of books and articles such as *The Next American Frontier* and *The Work of Nations*. After leaving Harvard, he became a professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management (1997–2005). In January 2006, he was appointed Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He taught his final class there in spring 2023 and currently holds the title of emeritus Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy.

Cabinet tenure

Reich’s involvement with President Clinton began during the 1992 campaign, where his economic ideas were incorporated into the platform. After Clinton’s election victory, Reich headed economic policy for the presidential transition team before being nominated as Secretary of Labor on January 21, 1993. His nomination was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and entered into office without controversy.

In the early days of the administration, Reich was regarded as one of the most influential members of the cabinet, owing to his close relationship with President Clinton and his ambitious agenda for the Department of Labor. He envisioned the labor department as a central hub that could coordinate with other agencies—such as Commerce and Education—to dismantle traditional bureaucratic barriers. Consistent with the 1992 campaign platform and his prior writings, Reich advocated for increased federal spending on job training programs and infrastructure projects.

Reich expanded his influence by serving as an economic advisor-at-large to the president. As a member of the National Economic Council, he advised Clinton on health care reform, education policy, welfare reform, national service initiatives, technology policy, deficit reduction, and spending priorities. He also engaged independent agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, to adopt labor‑focused perspectives in their regulatory work. In public statements, Reich referred to himself as “secretary of the American workforce” and described his role as that of a “central banker of the nation’s greatest resource.”

During his tenure, Reich encountered disagreements with other economic advisers who prioritized deficit reduction, notably budget director Leon Panetta and Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan. The administration’s overarching goal of reducing the federal deficit frequently clashed with Reich’s emphasis on investment in labor‑related programs.

Legacy

Reich’s impact extends beyond his cabinet service into academia, publishing, filmmaking, and civic engagement. In 2008, Time magazine named him one of the Ten Most Effective Cabinet Members of the century, while The Wall Street Journal ranked him sixth among the most influential business thinkers that same year.

As an author, Reich has published numerous books addressing economic and political issues, including *The Work of Nations* (1991), *Reason* (2004), *Supercapitalism* (2007), *Aftershock* (2010), *Beyond Outrage* (2012), and *Saving Capitalism* (2015). He co‑produced the documentary film *Saving Capitalism*, which premiered on Netflix in November 2017, and the film *Inequality for All*, which received a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Reich has also been active in civic organizations; he serves as board chair emeritus of Common Cause, a watchdog group focused on government accountability. He maintains a public presence through his blog at Robertreich.org, where he continues to comment on contemporary policy issues.

Throughout his career, Reich has combined scholarly research with practical policy work, influencing both the formulation of national economic strategies and the education of future policymakers. His contributions to labor policy, economic debate, and public discourse have left a lasting imprint on American political life.