The passing of David Gergen — public official, speechwriter and strategist, commentator and analyst, teacher and counselor to presidents — reveals much about our present moment. It is difficult to imagine anyone today traveling the path he followed, a path that embraced three arenas: public service, journalism and academia.

A native of Durham, North Carolina, and son of a Duke University mathematician, he attended Yale University and the Harvard Law School before serving three and a half years in the U.S. Navy stationed in Japan.

A willingness to serve

Shortly after he mustered out of the Navy in late 1970, a friend, knowing his writing skills, encouraged the 29-year-old Gergen to apply for a position as an assistant to Ray Price, who had been named to head the Nixon White House speechw

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