Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2020

The Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School (IOP) is proud to release audio recordings from its Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2020 conference, which was held on June 26th, 2021. The proceedings mark the thirteenth edition of the quadrennial Campaign for President: The Managers Look Back series, which has produced an oral history on each presidential campaign cycle since 1972.

For nearly fifty years, political practitioners involved in presidential campaigns have participated in the Institute of Politics conference to exchange candid views about the strategies and tactics employed during the election while still fresh in their memories. The conversations are recorded and then published by the Institute of Politics in an effort to allow future candidates, managers, journalists and scholars to better understand the nature of presidential campaigns. The book will be released in early 2022.

“After an historic election marked by protests for racial justice, a global pandemic, and economic crisis, a substantive and accurate account has never been more important for scholars, practitioners, and historians,” said Mark Gearan, Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. “The IOP is proud to continue our nearly 50 year tradition of creating a first draft of history and we are grateful to the many campaign officials and moderators who contributed to this effort.  We look forward to the publishing of the book Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2020.”

For more information on the Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2020 conference, read the press release here.

Click on the links below to listen to audio from each session:
The Democratic Primaries: Panel I (The Biden Campaign)
The Democratic Primaries: Panel II (The Democratic Primary Candidates)
A Conversation on The 2020 Democratic Convention
The General Election (The Biden Campaign)
 

The Democratic Primaries: Panel I (The Biden Campaign)
 

Moderators

  • Yamiche Alcindor, White House Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Moderator, Washington Week, PBS News
  • Alexander Burns, National Political Correspondent, New York Times; Member, Institute of Politics Senior Advisory Committee
     

Participants

  • Kate Bedingfield, Deputy Campaign Manager
  • Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Campaign Manager 
  • Mike Donilon, Chief Strategist
  • Anita Dunn, Senior Advisor
  • Bruce Reed, Senior Advisor
  • Steve Ricchetti, Campaign Chairman
  • Congressman Cedric Richmond, Campaign Co-Chair
  • Symone Sanders, Senior Advisor

 

The Democratic Primaries: Panel II (The Democratic Primary Candidates)
 

Moderators

  • Yamiche Alcindor, White House Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Moderator, Washington Week, PBS News
  • Alexander Burns, National Political Correspondent, New York Times; Member, Institute of Politics Senior Advisory Committee


Participants

  • Mayor Michael Nutter, Co-Chair, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
  • Mike Schmuhl, Campaign Manager, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Maya Rupert, Campaign Manager, Secretary Julián Castro
  • Rohini Kosoglu, Senior Advisor, Senator Kamala Harris
  • Justin Buoen, Campaign Manager, Senator Amy Klobuchar
  • David Wysong, Senior Advisor, Congressman Beto O’Rourke
  • Faiz Shakir, Campaign Manager, Senator Bernie Sanders
  • Heather Hargreaves, Campaign Manager, Tom Steyer
  • Roger Lau, Campaign Manager, Senator Elizabeth Warren
  • Zach Graumann, Campaign Manager, Andrew Yang

     

 

A Conversation on The 2020 Democratic Convention
 

Moderator

  • David Chalian, Vice President of Political Coverage and Political Director, CNN


Participants

  • Stephanie Cutter, Democratic Convention Program Executive Director
  • Addisu Demissie, Senior Advisor for the DNC
  • Anita Dunn, Senior Advisor for the Biden Campaign

 

The General Election (The Biden Campaign)
 

Moderators

  • Toluse Olorunnipa, Political Investigations and Enterprise Reporter, Washington Post
  • Margaret Talev, Managing Editor for Politics, Axios; Fall 2018 Resident Fellow, Institute of Politics


Participants

  • Bob Bauer, Senior Advisor
  • Kate Bedingfield, Deputy Campaign Manager
  • Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Campaign Manager
  • Mike Donilon, Chief Strategist
  • Anita Dunn, Senior Advisor
  • Bruce Reed, Senior Advisor
  • Steve Ricchetti, Campaign Chairman
  • Congressman Cedric Richmond, Campaign Co-Chair
  • Julie Rodriguez, Deputy Campaign Manager
  • Symone Sanders, Senior Advisor