Jim Johnson

 is a Democratic Party political figure and businessman
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Jim Johnson was the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential bid. He was a member of the vice presidential selection process for John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.

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Background

  • B.A., University of Minnesota.
  • Master of Public Policy, Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
  • Received honorary degrees from Howard University, Skidmore College, Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota.
  • Johnson started his career teaching at Princeton University before working as a staffer in the United States Senate. He later took a position with the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corp.) as director of public affairs.
  • Johnson has been the director of Lehman Brothers, Vice-Chair of Fannie Mae, and the vice chair of the private banking firm Perseus LLC. He also serves as a board member for several corporations.
  • On 4 June 2008, Senator Barack Obama announced the formation of a three vice presidential vetting committee which would include Johnson. On 11 June 2008, Johnson resigned from the team after questions about his home mortgage deals became a distraction for a candidate who argues he's not influenced by special interests (Source: AP).

Professional Positions

  • Executive assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale from (1977-1981).
  • Founder of Public Strategies, a private consulting firm, and CEO from 1981 to 1985.
  • Managing director at Lehman Brothers (1985-1990).
  • Vice chairman of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) (1990-1991).
  • Chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae (1991-1998).
  • Chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Arts (1996-2004) and the Brookings Institution (1994-2003).
  • Vice chairman of Perseus LLC, 2001-2008.
  • Johnson is also a board member at Goldman Sachs, Gannett Company, Inc., KB Home, Target Corporation, Temple-Inland, and United Health Group.

Accomplishments

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Criticism

  • Jim Johnson was criticized for receiving loans directly from Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide Financial, a company implicated in the U.S. subprime mortgage lending crisis (Source: USA Today). Johnson has not been accused of any wrongdoing but made the decision to step down from Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting team to avoid becoming a distraction to Obama's campaign (Source: AP).

Additional Information

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