ADVISORY BOARD / Gardner Peckham
Gardner Peckham is Managing Director of BKSH & Associates, a leading government relations and lobbying firm in Washington, DC. During the past twenty-five years, Mr. Peckham has worked extensively in the development and implementation of federal policy on foreign relations, national security, and trade. His experience in Congress and the Executive branch has given him exceptional opportunities to participate in the inner-workings of American government, politics, and international relations.
Mr. Peckham served as Senior Policy Advisor to Newt Gingrich throughout his tenure as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. In this capacity, he was responsible for devising and implementing House legislative, political, and communication strategy and tactics on foreign affairs, trade and defense. He worked closely with House leaders and committee chairs, their Senate counterparts, and other House members. He was also the Speaker’s liaison with Administration officials, foreign leaders, and business executives. He further supported the Speaker by managing other staff in the development of briefings, speeches, and planning and staffing all his international travel.
Before joining the Speaker’s staff, Mr. Peckham held several other positions in the House of Representatives. These included: Senior Counsel to Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Henry J. Hyde; Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Staff Consultant, Committee on Foreign Affairs; and Staff Consultant, Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on Foreign Affairs. His responsibilities in these positions involved legislative work, supervision of professional and support staff, considerable writing (speeches, op-eds, policy statements, etc.), and public speaking.
In addition to his work on Capitol Hill, Mr. Peckham held two senior positions in the first Bush Administration. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs to Secretary James A. Baker, III, he actively participated in senior level Administration decision-making on key foreign policy issues. He chaired regular interagency meetings among the State Department, the White House, and nearly a dozen other Executive Branch Departments and Agencies and managed and directed professional and support staff in the formulation and coordination of strategic planning and legislative tactics. Mr. Peckham also served as Secretary Baker’s liaison with the Congress, which involved negotiating with the leadership and other Members, and testifying before Congressional committees. He also served as Director of Legislative Affairs to National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, where he coordinated Executive Branch activity on national security and foreign policy as they related to Congress, chaired interagency meetings, and advised General Scowcroft on Congress and the legislative process.
Mr. Peckham received his Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1975 and pursued graduate studies at the American University School of International Service. He also participated in the Executive Program of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1983. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of Directors of Partners for Democratic Change, a leading democracy-building NGO. He was appointed to the National Commission for Review of Research and Development in the United States Intelligence Community and previously served on the National Commission on Terrorism, which reported its findings in June 2000. He also served on the Secretary of Defense/Director of Central Intelligence-appointed Remote Sensing Strategy Panel, which reported its findings in October 2001. He has served on several advisory groups to senior officials in the intelligence community. Mr. Peckham received an award of appreciation from the DCI Counterterrorism Center in August, 2005. He has appeared on NPR as well as talk radio including the syndicated Mike Gallagher Show and the Chris Core Show.
Mr. Peckham, his wife, and two daughters live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
