Deaver To Be IOP Visiting Fellow

Michael K. Deaver, who was deputy chief of staff to former president Ronald W. Reagan, will be lending his advice to Harvard students next week as one of the Institute of Politics’ (IOP) fall visiting fellows.

Deaver, who will be on campus from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27, was one of Reagan’s closest aides during his years as the governor of California and as president of the United States. Deaver is currently the International Vice Chairman for Edelman Worldwide, a public-relations firm.

According to IOP director Jeanne Shaheen, the IOP selected Deaver on the recommendation of a student committee that was particularly interested in inviting a fellow with a strong political and communications background.

As deputy chief of staff from 1981 to 1985, Deaver fit the role.

“He was the person in the Reagan White House responsible for the image of the Reagan administration,” said Shaheen.

She said his visit will include an interview with the Harvard Political Review, dinner at Dunster House, a meeting with various Harvard Republican groups, and a visit to Government 1540: “The American Presidency,” a class taught by IBM Professor of Business and Government Roger B. Porter.

Porter, who has served as an advisor to three presidents, including Reagan, lauded Deaver’s skills as a political communicator.

“Michael Deaver was superb in helping to frame issues and to communicate the President’s positions, policies, and initiatives to the public,” Porter wrote in an e-mail.

“Many of the approaches he pioneered to focus the agenda and to communicate not merely through words but through pictures and events have been adopted by succeeding administrations,” he wrote.

Porter added that Deaver was someone Reagan trusted fully on a personal level.

In his book “A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan”, Deaver wrote, “I had come to adore and respect the president like a second father. Reagan was once asked if he thought of me as another son. He thought a minute and said, ‘Son, no. Brother. Maybe.’”

Deaver will also interact with students next week during a “Pizza and Politics” event open to all members of the Harvard community.

“We are excited he is going to be here and we know students are very excited to hear him speak,” Shaheen said.