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# Democratic Leadership Council
- URL: https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/democratic-leadership-council/
- Published: 1999-01-02T15:08:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-10T17:28:37.000Z
- Author: Liam Sturgess
- Tags: Profiles, #docs, #organization

The **Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)** was an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It was affiliated with the [Progressive Policy Institute](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Progressive-Policy-Institute) (PPI), which served as the DLC's think tank.

## History

The DLC was founded in 1985 by Al From and "a small group of reform-minded" governors and congressmen, with assistance from Will Marshall,[\[1\]](#fn1)[\[2\]](#fn2) modelled after the [Coalition for a Democratic Majority](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Coalition-for-a-Democratic-Majority) (CDM).[\[3\]](#fn3) Founding members of the DLC included Arkansas governor Bill Clinton,[\[1:1\]](#fn1) Al Gore, Richard Riley[\[4\]](#fn4) and Chuck Robb.[\[5\]](#fn5) In January 1989, Marshall founded the Progressive Policy Institute to act as the DLC's "intellectual center."[\[2:1\]](#fn2)[\[6\]](#fn6)

Clinton became chair of the DLC in 1990.[\[7\]](#fn7) During his tenure as chair, Clinton shaped the ideas he would use in his successful campaign for President of the United States, demonstrating the viability of a New Democrat platform.[\[1:2\]](#fn1)

The DLC ceased operations in February 2011, and in July 2011, From announced that the organization's historical records had been purchased by the Clinton Foundation.[\[8\]](#fn8)[\[1:3\]](#fn1)

## Organization

| Name                                                         | Position                                                          | Notes                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Chuck Alston                                                 | Executive Director[\[9\]](#fn9)                                   | [Progressive Policy Institute](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Progressive-Policy-Institute) (PPI), *New Democrat Magazine*, *Congressional Quarterly*, *Greensboro News and Record*                                 |
| Evan Bayh                                                    | Chairman[\[10\]](#fn10)                                           | United States Senate, [Third Way](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Third-Way)                                                                                                                                         |
| [Joe Biden](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Joe-Biden) | Member[\[11\]](#fn11)                                             | President of the United States                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Tom Carper                                                   | Vice Chairman[\[12\]](#fn12)                                      | United States Senate, [Third Way](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Third-Way)                                                                                                                                         |
| Bill Clinton                                                 | Chairman[\[13\]](#fn13)                                           | President of the United States                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Al From                                                      | Founder[\[1:4\]](#fn1)                                            | House Democratic Caucus                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Al Gore                                                      | Founding member[\[5:1\]](#fn5)                                    | Vice President of the United States                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Nancy Jacobson                                               | Senior Advisor[\[14\]](#fn14)                                     | Democratic Party, [Democratic National Committee](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Democratic-National-Committee) (DNC), [No Labels](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/No-Labels), NEXT Generation                |
| Michael Lewan                                                | Washington Steering Committee head[\[15\]](#fn15)                 | New Democrat Coalition                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Steven Liebes                                                | Director of Trade Policy (June 1998-February 2000)[\[16\]](#fn16) | [State of the World Forum](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/State-of-the-World-Forum)                                                                                                                                 |
| Blanche Lincoln                                              | Member[\[17\]](#fn17)[\[18\]](#fn18)                              | [Third Way](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Third-Way)                                                                                                                                                               |
| Will Marshall                                                | Founding Policy Director[\[2:2\]](#fn2)                           | [Progressive Policy Institute](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Progressive-Policy-Institute)                                                                                                                         |
| Sam Nunn                                                     | Chairman[\[13:1\]](#fn13)                                         | [Nuclear Threat Initiative](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Nuclear-Threat-Initiative) (NTI), [Coalition for a Democratic Majority](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Coalition-for-a-Democratic-Majority) (CDM) |
| Holly Page                                                   | Vice President and Political Director[\[19\]](#fn19)              | *Blueprint: Ideas for a New Century*, [Democratic National Committee](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Democratic-National-Committee) (DNC)                                                                           |
| Bruce Reed                                                   | President[\[20\]](#fn20)                                          | \-                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Chuck Robb                                                   | Founding member[\[5:2\]](#fn5)                                    | [Coalition for a Democratic Majority](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Coalition-for-a-Democratic-Majority) (CDM)                                                                                                     |
| Ellen Tauscher                                               | Vice Chair[\[21\]](#fn21)                                         | ChildCare Registry                                                                                                                                                                                                         |

### Funding

The DLC refused to disclose its funders, but some have been identified from sources like event programs. Known donors to the DLC included:[\[22\]](#fn22)[\[5:3\]](#fn5)

- Aetna
- American Airlines
- American Association of Health Plans
- [American International Group](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/American-International-Group) (AIG)
- AOL
- ARCO
- AT&T
- BellSouth
- Bernard Schwartz
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- Boeing
- BP
- [Bristol-Myers Squibb](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Bristol-Myers-Squibb)
- Chevron
- Cigna
- Citigroup
- Coca-Cola Company
- Dell
- Dow
- DuPont
- [Eli Lilly](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Eli-Lilly)
- Enron
- FedEx
- General Electric (GE)
- Glaxo Wellcome
- IBM
- Intel
- Koch Industries
- [Merck](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Merck)
- Michael Steinhardt
- Microsoft
- Motorola
- Oracle
- PaineWebber
- Pharmacia & Upjohn
- [Pfizer](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Pfizer)
- [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America](https://www.whiteroseintelligence.com/Pharmaceutical-Research-and-Manufacturers-of-America) (PhRMA)
- Philip Morris International
- Richard Fink
- Robert Hall III
- Texaco
- TRW
- Union Carbide
- Verizon Communications
- Xerox

## External links

- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/p/Democratic-Leadership-Council-100069151778256/)
- [SourceWatch](https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Democratic%5FLeadership%5FCouncil)
- [Website (archived)](https://web.archive.org/web/20141216233253/http://dlc.org/)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic%5FLeadership%5FCouncil)

---

1. From, A. (2011, July 5). *Statement from DLC Founder Al From.* Democratic Leadership Council. <http://archive.today/2012.06.11-101033/http://www.dlc.org/ndol%5Fci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=84&contentid=255239> [↩︎](#fnref1) [↩︎](#fnref1:1) [↩︎](#fnref1:2) [↩︎](#fnref1:3) [↩︎](#fnref1:4)
2. *Will Marshall.* Progressive Policy Institute. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from <https://web.archive.org/web/20231216052841/https://www.progressivepolicy.org/people/will-marshall-2/> [↩︎](#fnref2) [↩︎](#fnref2:1) [↩︎](#fnref2:2)
3. Kotkin, J. (2022, November 11). *The Democrats’ False Victory.* Joel Kotkin. <https://web.archive.org/web/20240516205555/https://joelkotkin.com/the-democrats-false-victory/> [↩︎](#fnref3)
4. Hover, D. (2018, August 4). *From the archives: Dick Riley, Bill Clinton and the emergence of the Democratic Leadership Council.* The Greenville News. <http://archive.today/2024.03.29-010847/https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2018/08/04/archives-emergence-democratic-leadership-council/875356002/> [↩︎](#fnref4)
5. Dreyfuss, R. (2001, December 19). *How the DLC Does It.* The American Prospect. <https://web.archive.org/web/20240419104100/https://prospect.org/features/dlc/> [↩︎](#fnref5) [↩︎](#fnref5:1) [↩︎](#fnref5:2) [↩︎](#fnref5:3)
6. From, A. (2013, December 3). *Recruiting Bill Clinton.* The Atlantic. <http://archive.today/2019.10.23-043755/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/recruiting-bill-clinton/281946/> [↩︎](#fnref6)
7. Scola, N. (2023, November 2). *Biden’s Elusive AI Whisperer Finally Goes On the Record. Here’s His Warning.* Politico. <http://archive.today/2023.11.18-022804/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/02/bruce-reed-ai-biden-tech-00124375> [↩︎](#fnref7)
8. Smith, B. (2011, February 7). *Democratic Leadership Council will fold.* Politico. <https://web.archive.org/web/20240115223243/https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2011/02/democratic-leadership-council-will-fold-033157> [↩︎](#fnref8)
9. *Chuck Alston.* New Democrats Online. Retrieved April 20, 2001, from <http://archive.today/2001.04.20-013058/http://ndol.org/ndol%5Fci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=1139> [↩︎](#fnref9)
10. *Co-Chairs.* Third Way. Retrieved August 6, 2004, from <http://archive.today/2004.08.06-185509/http://www.third-way.com/cochairs/> [↩︎](#fnref10)
11. Marcetic, B. (2020, February 23). *Joe Biden Helped Pull the Democrats to the Right.* Jacobin. <https://web.archive.org/web/20220607075205/https://jacobin.com/2020/02/yesterdays-man-case-against-joe-biden-new-deal-reagan> [↩︎](#fnref11)
12. *Carper Named Vice-Chair of Democratic Leadership Council.* (2005, July 15). Senator Tom Carper. <http://archive.today/2024.03.29-000851/https://www.carper.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/null-101/> [↩︎](#fnref12)
13. Von Drehle, D., & Dewar, H. (1993, May 3). *The Contrary Democrat: What is Sam Nunn Thinking?* Washington Post. <http://archive.today/2024.03.29-005128/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/05/03/the-contrary-democrat-what-is-sam-nunn-thinking/43dcf3ad-d8c7-4368-ae46-39658215132d/> [↩︎](#fnref13) [↩︎](#fnref13:1)
14. *Experience | Nancy Jacobson.* LinkedIn. Retrieved November 16, 2023, from <http://archive.today/2023.11.16-210436/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyjacobson/details/experience/> [↩︎](#fnref14)
15. *Michael Lewan.* The Livingston Group, L.L.C. Retrieved May 19, 2024, from <http://archive.today/2024.05.19-003808/https://www.livingstongroupdc.com/about/bios/michael-lewan/> [↩︎](#fnref15)
16. *Experience | Steven F. Liebes.* LinkedIn. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from <https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-f-liebes-ba0200149/details/experience/> [↩︎](#fnref16)
17. Roggio, B. (2004, December 8). *The Credibility Gap.* FDD’s Long War Journal. <https://web.archive.org/web/20230529215233/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2004/12/the%5Fcredibility%5F1.php> [↩︎](#fnref17)
18. Balz, D. (2010, May 30). *Still onstage and shaping Clintonism.* Washington Post. <http://archive.today/2024.05.13-215320/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/national/2010/05/30/still-onstage-and-shaping-clintonism/cefd2f72-ca3d-47e7-b386-3b29553e792f/> [↩︎](#fnref18)
19. *Holly Page.* New Democrats Online. Retrieved July 13, 2001, from <https://web.archive.org/web/20010713030243/http://www.ndol.org/ndol%5Fci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=1141> [↩︎](#fnref19)
20. *About the Democratic Leadership Council.* New Democrats Online. Retrieved April 20, 2001, from <https://web.archive.org/web/20010420014937/http://ndol.org/ndol%5Fci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=85&contentid=893> [↩︎](#fnref20)
21. *Ellen Tauscher.* New Democrats Online. Retrieved May 13, 2001, from <https://web.archive.org/web/20010513063532/http://www.ndol.org/ndol%5Fci.cfm?contentid=2878&subid=110&kaid=103> [↩︎](#fnref21)
22. Turque, B. (2000, August 20). *The Soul And The Steel.* Newsweek. <http://archive.today/2020.08.06-155924/https://www.newsweek.com/soul-and-steel-158731> [↩︎](#fnref22)

## Further reading

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