| The Honourable Jeffrey Bleich |
|
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Australia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 2009 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Robert McCallum, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Connecticut, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Pratt "Becky" Bleich |
| Profession | Amherst College, Bachelor of Arts degree in political science |
Jeffrey Laurence "Jeff" Bleich[1] is an American lawyer from California who is the United States Ambassador to Australia. Formerly a partner at the firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Bleich is a longtime friend of President Barack Obama. He joined the White House staff in March 2009, holding the title of Special Counsel to the President, and on September 11, 2009 was nominated by Obama to become United States Ambassador to Australia.[2] The United States Senate confirmed Bleich on November 10, 2009.
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Bleich grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Hall High School in West Hartford. Bleich graduated from Amherst College magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1983. Bleich was admitted to study at Harvard University but deferred for a year to take a public policy fellowship at the Coro Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, where he became involved in juvenile justice issues. At Harvard Bleich went to the John F. Kennedy School of Government as a 1986 John F. Kennedy Fellow, graduated with a Master of Arts in Public Policy.[2][3]
Bleich attended the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and received his J.D. in 1989. He was editor-in-chief of the California Law Review and Order of the Coif.[2] In May 2011, Bleich was an awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from San Francisco State University. http://www.calstate.edu/honorarydegrees/2011/bio-bleich.shtml
Bleich served as a law clerk to Judge Abner J. Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1989 to 1990 and to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1990 to 1991. He was legal assistant to Judge Howard M. Holtzmann of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague from 1991 to 1992.[3] He received a Certificate of Study in Public and Private International Law from the Hague Academy of International Law, Netherlands in 1993.
Bleich joined the San Francisco-based firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in 1992, and was made partner three years later, in December 1995.[4] His practice there was focused primarily on general civil litigation, with emphasis on complex litigation, appellate practice, media law, communications law, and intellectual property.[3]
Since 1993 he has served as an adjunct lecturer in law at Berkeley Law, teaching constitutional law and upper-level seminar courses in international human rights, habeas corpus, and appellate advocacy.[3] He was president of the San Francisco Bar Association in 2003.[3] Bleich served as president of the State Bar of California from 2007 to 2008.
Bleich was elected to the American Law Institute in 2003 and served as chair of the American Bar Association Amicus Curiae Committee from 2006-2009.[4] He also served on an ABA subcommittee on corporate social responsibility and on the ABA Section on International Law.[1] He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations[3] and the Pacific Council on International Policy, the International Law Association, and the American Society of International Law,[1] in addition to the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court. He has written over 100 articles and served on some 20 different boards,[5] including the boards of Human Rights Watch and Legal Community Against Violence.\[2] as well as the Boalt Hall Alumni Association and the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco.[3]
Bleich was a member of the board of trustees of California State University, serving a term from 2004-2009. He served as vice chair from 2006 to 2008 and as chair from 2008-09.[3]
During the Clinton administration, Bleich served as director of the White House Council on Youth Violence, formed during the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre.[2]
Bleich met Barack Obama almost 20 years before Bleich was nominated to become U.S. Ambassador to Australia, when Bleich tried to recruit Obama to become a law clerk to Abner Mikva. The two later became friends. Bleich was in attendance during Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and shared breakfast with him two days later.[2]
During Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Bleich was a founding member and co-chair of Obama's national finance committee, co-chair of Obama's higher education advisory board, and California co-chair. He donated to Hillary Rodham Clinton and raised funds for her to retire her campaign's debt after the Democratic primary.[2]
Bleich joined the White House team in March 2009. Among his tasks was to address confirmation and personnel issues and to advise on other sensitive matters. He moderated a discussion on human rights in the new administration at the 2009 American Bar Association's Section of International Law Spring Meeting in April 2009.[6]
The Senate confirmed Bleich to be United States Ambassador to Australia in a voice vote on November 10, 2009.
Bleich's wife is Rebecca Pratt "Becky" Bleich,[1] and they have three teenage children, Jake, Matthew, and Abby. He collects Elvis Presley memorabilia.[2]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jeff_Bleich Jeff Bleich] at Wikimedia Commons
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert McCallum, Jr. |
United States Ambassador to Australia 2009- |
Succeeded by — |