John W. Gardner

Infobox Person|

name=John William Gardner


imagesize = 150px
caption=
birth_date=birth date|1912|10|8|mf=y
birth_place=Los Angeles, California
death_date=death date|2002|2|16|mf=y
death_place=Palo Alto, California|

John William Gardner, (October 8, 1912–February 16, 2002), President of the Carnegie Corporation, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson, was subsequently the founder of two influential national U.S. organizations, Common Cause and Independent Sector, as well as the author of numerous books on improving leadership in American society and other subjects. He was also the founder of two prestigious fellowship programs, The White House Fellowship and The John Gardner Fellowship at Stanford University and U.C. Berkeley. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

Gardner's term as Secretary of HEW was at the height of Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. During this tenure, the Department undertook both the huge task of launching Medicare, which brought quality health care to senior citizens, and oversaw a massive investment in education with the passage of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 that redefined the federal role in education and targeted funding to poor students. Gardner also presided over the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 1970, Gardner created Common Cause, the first non-profit public interest group in the United States. He also founded the Experience Corps. [ [http://www.experiencecorps.org/about_us/history.cfm History of Experience Corps] ]

Books, Writings and Speeches

* "Excellence: Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too?" (1961)
* "To Turn the Tide" (1962) [Editor]
* "Self-Renewal" (1964)
* "No Easy Victories" (1968)
* "The Recovery of Confidence" (1970)
* "In Common Cause" (1972)
* "Morale" (1978)
* "Quotations of Wit and Wisdom" (1980) [Edited with Francesca Gardner]
* "On Leadership" (1990)
* "Living, Leading, and the American Dream" (2003)
* "Uncritical Lovers, Unloving Critics" (1968) [ [http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=EJ005810 100th Anniversary Cornell Commencement address given June 1, 1968, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/johngardner/ "John Gardner: Uncommon American" PBS documentary]