Michael Pertschuk
Michael Pertschuk served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 1977 to 1981, and he cofounded the Advocacy Institute. He is the author of Smoke in Their Eyes: Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars and The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will into Political Power (both published by Vanderbilt University Press) and three other books.
Mr. Pertschuk has had a long and distinguished career. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1959, he served as a legislative assistant to Senator Maureen Neuberger of Oregon (1962 to 1964), and went on to become chief counsel of the Senate Commerce Committee. While with the committee, Mr. Pertschuk became one of the congressional staff’s most important and influential members.
For example, he was instrumental in drafting numerous consumer protection measures, including the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. Ironically, the stringent standards for FTC rule making imposed by that act were the basis of a recent District of Columbia district court decision disqualifying Mr. Pertschuk from further participation in the children’s advertising case. (He was said to have made prejudicial remarks on the subject.)
Among Mr. Pertschuk’s published writings is an article that appeared in Juris Doctor in September 1974 entitled, “Getting Your Way in Washington.”
Source: Vanderbilt University Press and American Enterprise Institute
