About Ken Mehlman

KKR Member and Head of Global Public Affairs

Ken Mehlman is a Member of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, LLP. He oversees the firm's global external affairs activities, including corporate marketing, regulatory affairs and public policy, communications, and engagement with the firm and portfolio companies' key stakeholders. Before joining KKR, Ken Mehlman was a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, where he helped businesses and individuals manage risk and seize opportunities at the nexus of business and public policy.

Ken Mehlman served as 62nd chairman of the Republican National Committee and campaign manager for President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics, compared Mehlman's success to Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's, particularly in their revolutionary approaches to identifying new customers and constituents. Ken Mehlman also served in high level positions in Congress and the White House, including as White House political director during President George W. Bush's first term.

Ken Mehlman received his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in 1988 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991.

Ken Mehlman is a trustee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Franklin & Marshall College, and the National Endowment for Democracy. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics and the executive leadership cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation.

Press Releases

Articles

Videos

Speeches

NAACP Convention of 2005
Guest Speaker: Ken Mehlman

Ken Mehlman addressed the issue of racial polarization among America's political parties.

"...Republicans have something that should cause you to take another look at the party of Lincoln."