A renowned thought-leader and writer, and one of the most creative analysts, visionaries, and strategists of his generation, Matthew Dowd is a trusted influential voice, author, and media analyst widely respected for bringing a common-sense perspective to cultural, political, economic, and spiritual trends. Dowd has worked on both sides of the aisle throughout the last forty years. He was chief strategist for President George Bush and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and worked for leading political figures and more than 100 candidates for office around the country. Having previously appeared for over a decade as ABC’s chief political analyst known for being a reliable, steady voice who could be counted on for fact-based, non-partisan insights across the network’s programming, he currently serves in a hybrid role for MSNBC as a political analyst and reporting on the state of democracy in America today.

With triumphant political campaigns under his belt and independence from both political parties, he uses his wealth of experience and knowledge to provide audiences with a view of America today and the ways our political, economic, and social institutions need to respond — covering not only politics but cultural, economic, and spiritual trends. His plea for politicians today is that they place country above party. He is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau.

Building a Name-Brand Candidate. Dowd’s political work includes serving as the chief strategist for two winning reelection efforts — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 campaign and President George W. Bush’s second White House bid in 2004. His innovative approach on the 2004 and 2000 campaigns led the bi-partisan American Association of Political Consultants to name him “Strategist of the Year.” In 2004, he oversaw all of the Bush campaign’s media, message development, targeting, and research. Dowd has also given strategic advice to President Barack Obama after the 2010 midterm elections, Bono at the One Campaign, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Basketball Association. Prior to his work for President Bush, Dowd worked for 25 years for Democratic candidates around the country, including Senator Lloyd Bentsen and former Texas Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, who Dowd helped to win two terms as his chief campaign consultant. After moving on from political consulting, he founded Country Over Party, a national forum to convene voters and candidates dedicated to a leadership vision who prioritize values such as integrity, compassion, honesty, decency, service, and dedication to patriotism over party affiliation.

Now Serving Politics and Prose. Matthew Dowd is the author of the critically acclaimed book Revelations on the River: Healing a Nation, Healing Ourselves, which draws from his own personal story and lessons learned from world leaders in history to analyze key topics including love, fears and trauma, forgiveness and reconciliation, faith and science, interconnection, and legacies. He is also the co-author of the wildly popular New York Times best-seller Applebee’s America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community, which examines the tactics used by two great politicians and a groundbreaking company to thrive in an era of immense change. 

Dowd has taught seminars on campaigns and communication at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Chicago, and the University of Southern California.

Over the last 20 years, he has been an active entrepreneur, founding three highly successful companies including Vianovo, Public Strategies, and Paradox Capital — a social impact venture fund which is focused on for-profit social good companies. He has also served on the boards of the Catholic nonprofit Seton Family of Hospitals, Texas Habitat for Humanity, and Texas Impact, an interfaith group working on behalf of social justice.

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