Fleischer, Ari 1960-

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FLEISCHER, Ari 1960-

(Lawrence Ari Fleischer)

PERSONAL: Born 1960 in Pound Ridge, NY; married Rebecca Davis, 2003; children: Liz. Education: Middlebury College, B.A., 1982. Politics: Republican. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: New York Yankees baseball.

ADDRESSES: Home—Westchester County, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, William Morrow & Company, 10 E. 53 St., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Civil servant. Press secretary to Jon Fossel, 1982, and Congressman Norman Lent; U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, member of staff; President George H. W. Bush, deputy communications director, 1992; ran lobbying firm, 1992–94; U.S. House of Representatives, press secretary to Ways and Means Committee, 1994–99; Elizabeth Dole for President campaign, communications director, 1999; White House press secretary, 2000–03; Ari Fleischer Communications (media consulting firm), Washington, DC, owner, 2004–. Member of board of directors, Republican Jewish Coalition, 2005–.

WRITINGS:

Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, Morrow (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: During his tenure as White House press secretary under President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2003, veteran political spokesman Ari Fleischer played a pivotal role in White House operations. Serving Republican administrations since the early 1990s, when he was deputy communications director for Bush's father, President George H. W. Bush, Fleischer now fielded questions from the media during such critical times as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq. He became well known for his stoic demeanor and calm in the face of controversy. In 2003 Fleischer resigned his high-stress position to marry Rebecca Davis, a former employee of the budget director's office. He then founded a communications company, hit the speaking circuit, and wrote the memoir Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, which a Publishers Weekly reviewer called a "sunnily defensive memoir."

In his memoir, Fleischer presents his views of the second President Bush, with whom he met on a daily basis. "One of the things I tried to do in the book," he told John Gibson of America's Intelligence Wire, "is give readers a real insight into his character and the things that he does behind the scenes." Fleischer describes the president's leadership style, values, and sense of humor, even commenting on Bush's habit of playing catch with a baseball on the White House lawn. Conceding to reviewer Vanessa Bush in Booklist that "reporters' jobs are to ask the hardest, toughest questions," Fleischer continued that his "job was to stand at the podium, take the heat, and do my best to answer them." His summary statement, "I loved it," Taking Heat provides a "revealing look at how the news is made and covered from the perspective of the White House," concluded Vanessa Bush.

In Taking Heat Fleischer also speaks of the role of the media in national politics. According to Susan Rife, a writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "Fleischer devotes many pages of the book to his criticism of the press corps' bias toward conflict and negativity, and cites numerous examples of the press's tilt toward the left." "I do believe that most reporters, when you talk to them in private, acknowledge that the press is overwhelmingly Democratic," Fleischer told Rife. "The question is, does it influence what they cover. Here I found it's a subtle issue. There is a question of ideological bias, and it shows up on policy, and especially on social policy, reporting."

As quoted by Bill Steig and Liesa Goings in Men's Health, Fleischer offered some practical career advice: "It's like sports," he wrote. "Get your fundamentals straight. If you lose track of what's fundamental, then you start getting lost in so many different intricacies and possibilities and start to become a handwringer. But if you keep your eye on the matters that count—like family, honesty, and loyalty—then the rest will come."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Fleischer, Ari, Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, Morrow (New York, NY), 2005.

Newsmakers, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Adweek, August 4, 2003, Lisa Van Der Pool, "Fleischer to Open D.C. Consultancy," p. 9.

America's Intelligence Wire, March 10, 2005, John Gibson, interview with Fleischer.

ASHA Leader, September 9, 2003, Marat Moore, "Ari Fleischer, Speaking for Himself," p. 2.

Booklist, March 1, 2005, Vanessa Bush, review of Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, p. 1134.

Men's Health, September, 2003, Bill Stieg and Liesa Goins, "Bye, West Wing," p. 60.

People, July 28, 2003, Macon Morehouse, "Goodbye, Mr. President," p. 61.

Publishers Weekly, February 7, 2005, review of Taking Heat, p. 53.

Sarasota Herald Times, March 6, 2005, Susan L. Rife, review of Taking Heat, p. E4.

Sports Illustrated, March 14, 2005, Richard Deitsch, "Ari Fleischer: The Former White House Press Secretary—and Devout Yankees Fan—Is the Author of a New Book," review of Taking Heat, p. 27.