Robert Reich

Robert Reich is an American professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator whose career has spanned academia, government, and media. Born on June 24, 1946, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Reich overcame a childhood diagnosis of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, a condition that left him standing at just 4 feet 11 inches, and transformed that personal adversity into a lifelong commitment to defending the powerless. After earning a summa cum laude history degree from Dartmouth, a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and a J.D. from Yale, he served as a law clerk, worked for the Federal Trade Commission, and advised Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton, ultimately becoming the 22nd United States Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997. During his tenure, he championed the Family and Medical Leave Act, pushed for a higher minimum wage, and became a public advocate for NAFTA, later revising his stance on trade agreements. Following his cabinet service, Reich returned to academia, teaching at Harvard, Brandeis, and ultimately UC Berkeley where he held the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy chair and taught the popular “Wealth and Poverty” course until his retirement in 2023. He has authored dozens of best‑selling books, including The Work of Nations, Supercapitalism, and Saving Capitalism, and co‑produced award‑winning documentaries such as Inequality for All and Saving Capitalism with Jacob Kornbluth. A prolific public speaker, he maintains a robust online presence through his YouTube channel, Substack newsletter, and frequent appearances on news programs, continuously urging policymakers to confront economic inequality, support unions, and pursue universal basic income. His personal life includes two marriages—to Clare Dalton (1973‑2012) and photographer Perian Flaherty—and two sons, Sam and Adam, who have followed creative and academic careers respectively.