| Zoë Baird | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 20, 1952 Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley UC Berkeley School of Law |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Zoë Eliot Baird (born June 20, 1952) is an American lawyer who is president of the Markle Foundation. She is most known for her role in the Nannygate matter of 1993.
Baird earned a B.A. in political science in 1974 from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. in 1977 from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.[1] She clerked for U.S. District Judge Albert C. Wollenberg from 1977 to 1978.
From 1980 until 1981 she was Associate Counsel to President Jimmy Carter. She also worked as Attorney-Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1979 to 1980. Baird married Yale Law School professor Paul Gewirtz and the couple had two sons.
She worked as a partner at the law firm O’Melveny & Myers, Washington, DC from 1981 to 1986. She was counselor and staff executive at General Electric from 1986 to 1990. She was general counsel and senior vice president of Aetna from 1992 to 1996.[1]
She was Bill Clinton's first unsuccessful nominee for United States Attorney General in 1993. Baird withdrew her name from consideration for the position when it was learned that she had hired illegal immigrants to serve as her chauffeur and nanny, and neglected to pay their social security taxes. She paid $2,900 in fines for the infractions.[2] The Nannygate matter attracted intense public attention, and the question "Do you have a Zoë Baird problem?" became frequently asked by Americans of each other in casual conversation, with many answers being in the affirmative.[3] Other political appointees fell victim to the same issue, and the phrase "to have a Zoë Baird problem" became rooted in the vocabulary of the American professional and political classes.[4][5]
President Clinton subsequently appointed Baird to the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.[6]
Baird is the president of the Markle Foundation, which focuses on how to accelerate the use of information technologies to address critical public needs, particularly in the areas of health and national security. For fiscal year 2008, her compensation from this tax exempt charitable organization was recorded as $505,750.00, in the Form 990-PF filed by Markle.[7]
Baird serves on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Chubb Corporation, Boston Properties, and the Brookings Institution.
She married William Budinger in 2010.[8]