Thomas R. Nides

Tom Nides
Official portrait, 2021
United States Ambassador to Israel
In office
December 5, 2021 – July 21, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDavid M. Friedman
Succeeded byJack Lew
2nd United States Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources
In office
January 3, 2011 – February 15, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byJack Lew
Succeeded byHeather Higginbottom
Personal details
Born
Thomas Richard Nides

(1961-02-25) February 25, 1961 (age 63)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseVirginia Moseley
Children3
EducationUniversity of Minnesota (BA)

Thomas Richard Nides (born February 25, 1961) is an American banker and government official who served as the United States ambassador to Israel from December 2021 to July 2023. From 2013 to 2021, he was the managing director and vice-chairman of Morgan Stanley, serving as a member of the firm's management and operating committee. Nides was previously appointed the deputy secretary of state for management and resources from 2011 to 2013 during the Obama administration. He has served in various financial and governmental roles throughout his life.

Early life and career

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Thomas Richard Nides was born on February 25, 1961,[1] to a Jewish family in Duluth, Minnesota, the son of Shirley (née Gavronsky) and Arnold Richard Nides.[2][3][4] He is the youngest of eight children.[5] His father was the founder of Nides Finance, a national consumer-finance company, and president Duluth's Temple Israel and Jewish Federation.[2]

He attended Duluth East High School, where he had an interest in politics. As a senior, he convinced then-Vice President Walter Mondale to speak at the high school graduation.[5][6] He later graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in political science.[4][7]

Career

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Early political career

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During Nides's freshman year of college, he worked as an intern for Mondale, where he shared an office with future Senator Amy Klobuchar.[5][6] After graduating, he worked on Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign as the Midwest field director.[4][5] Then, from 1986 to 1989, Nides worked for the majority whip of the United States House of Representatives, Tony Coelho; among other tasks, he was put in charge of managing House races for the 1986 midterms.[5] After Coelho's resignation, Nides worked in the office of Speaker Tom Foley from 1989 to 1993. In 1994, during the Clinton administration, he served as chief of staff for United States trade representative Mickey Kantor, where he played a crucial role in the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).[5]

Banking

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In 1994, Nides joined the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) as senior vice president, before briefly leaving in 1996 to work at Morgan Stanley.[5] In 1997, he returned to Fannie Mae to resume a new position as Vice President of Human Resources, with him holding this position until 2001.[5] From 2001 to 2004, he was then chief administrative officer of Credit Suisse First Boston, the investment banking division of Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group, and later served for one year as worldwide president and chief executive officer of Burson-Marsteller.[8] From 2005 to 2010, he was the COO of Morgan Stanley.[7]

After voluntarily leaving his position at the State Department, Nides rejoined Morgan Stanley in March 2013 as managing director and vice chairman.[9][10] He also became a member of Morgan Stanley's Operating and Management Committees with this job.[11] He informed CEO James P. Gorman he would be departing from the firm effective July 1, 2021.

Government

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On September 29, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Nides to be deputy secretary of state for management and resources.[12] He was confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010, and sworn into office on January 3, 2011.[7] For his service in the position, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton awarded Nides the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award in January 2013, the nation's highest diplomatic honor.[13]

In 2016, Nides was expected to land a position in Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, although he declined to join.[14] He was also considered for the role of White House chief of staff by Hillary Clinton had she won that year's presidential election.[15]

U.S ambassador to Israel

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U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides hosts the Embassy's annual Iftar gathering on April 3, 2023
Nides presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on December 5, 2021

Several months after the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Nides emerged as the front-runner candidate for ambassador to Israel.[16][17] In May 2021, Biden privately offered the position to Nides, which he accepted.[18][19] Biden officially announced the nomination on June 15, 2021, alongside other ambassador picks.[20][21] On June 23, 2021, his nomination was sent to the Senate.[22] On September 22, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[23] On October 19, 2021, his nomination was reported favorably out of committee.[24] On November 3, 2021, he was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote.[23] He presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog on December 5, 2021.[25] Nides finished as ambassador in July 2023.[26][27]

Board memberships

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Nides serves on numerous non-profit boards including the Atlantic Council,[28] the International Rescue Committee,[29] the Partnership for Public Service,[30] and the Urban Alliance Foundation.[31] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations[32] and is the former Chairman of the Board of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a leading non-partisan think tank, being appointed in September 2013 by President Obama and serving till 2017.[33][34]

Personal life

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In 1992, he married Virginia Carpenter Moseley, currently CNN’s senior vice president of newsgathering for the network's U.S. operation,[35] in an interfaith ceremony conducted by a Lutheran minister, James D. Ford, chaplain of the United States House of Representatives. Nides and Moseley are parents to two adult children.

Nides describes himself as a "liberal, Reform Jew,"[6] and was named by The Jerusalem Post as one of the fifty most influential Jews for 2022.[36]

References

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  1. ^ "Thomas Nides". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Obituaries from the Duluth News Tribune | Duluth News Tribune". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Shirley Gavronsky Nides Longtime Duluth Teacher, Volunteer". Duluth News Tribune. January 15, 1999. p. 05B. Retrieved May 25, 2021 – via NewsBank: Access World News - Historical and Current.
  4. ^ a b c Myers, John (January 5, 2011). "Duluth native takes key D.C. post". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h MacGillis, Alec (November 7, 2016). "Would Wall Street Have a Place in a Clinton Administration?". ProPublica. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Interview with Tom Nides". Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  7. ^ a b c "Nides, Thomas R." US Department of State. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011.
  8. ^ Rogin, Josh (September 29, 2010). "Obama announces Thomas Nides to replace Jack Lew". Foreign Policy. Retrieved May 25, 2021. ...Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Nides served for one year as Worldwide President and Chief Executive Officer of Burson-Marsteller...From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Nides was Chief Administrative Officer of Credit Suisse First Boston, and served on the firm's Executive Board.
  9. ^ Kamen, Al (January 22, 2013). "Nides to leave State; embassies being filled". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Duluth native leaves high-ranking State Department post". Duluth News Tribune. March 1, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Former Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides Rejoins Morgan Stanley as Vice Chairman". morganstanley.com. February 26, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Office of the Press Secretary (September 29, 2010). "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 9/29/10". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  13. ^ Nahmias, Omri (April 28, 2021). "Likely candidate for new ambassador to Israel emerges in Washington". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  14. ^ Allen, Mike (February 23, 2015). "Tom Nides won't join Hillary campaign". Politico. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  15. ^ Karni, Annie (October 27, 2016). "Podesta tops Clinton's short list for chief of staff". Politico. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  16. ^ Pager, Tyler; Gearan, Anne (April 27, 2021). "Biden donors, friends and former aides expected on first slate of high-profile ambassadors". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Samuels, Ben (April 28, 2021). "Tom Nides Emerges as Front-runner for Biden's Ambassador to Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  18. ^ Balsamo, Mike; Madhani, Aamer (May 25, 2021). "AP Source: Biden to name Tom Nides ambassador to Israel". Associated Press. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  19. ^ Lederman, Josh; Alba, Monica; Welker, Kristen; Mitchell, Andrea (May 25, 2021). "Biden taps Tom Nides for ambassador to Israel". NBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  20. ^ Pager, Tyler (June 15, 2021). "Biden to nominate Tom Nides as ambassador to Israel; Ken Salazar, 'Sully' Sullenberger also get posts". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Nine More Individuals to Serve as Ambassadors" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 15, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  22. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 23, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ^ a b "PN917 - Nomination of Thomas R. Nides for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  24. ^ "SFRC Approves 33 Critical Foreign Policy Nominations" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  25. ^ "Remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Thomas R. Nides Following Presentation of Credentials to President Isaac Herzog Jerusalem, Israel". il.usembassy.gov. 5 December 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  26. ^ Eichner, Itamar (23 July 2021). "Outgoing U.S. ambassador behind Biden call to Netanyahu". Ynetnews.
  27. ^ "Deputy Chief of Mission Hallett Assumes Charge of U.S. Embassy Jerusalem" (Press release). U.S. Embassy in Israel. July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  28. ^ "Board of Directors". Atlantic Council. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  29. ^ "IRC Board of Directors and Overseers". International Rescue Committee. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  30. ^ "Tom Nides • Partnership for Public Service". Partnership for Public Service. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  31. ^ "Urban Alliance Board Members". Urban Alliance. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  32. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  33. ^ "Thomas R. Nides | Wilson Center". Wilson Center. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  34. ^ "Fred Malek Appointed Wilson Center Board Chairman | Wilson Center". Wilson Center. August 31, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  35. ^ "Virginia Moseley - Senior Vice President of Newsgathering, CNN US". CNN. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  36. ^ "Tom Nides: The influential middleman between the US and Israel". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
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Media related to Thomas R. Nides at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Israel
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
Stephanie Hallett
Acting
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