Elliott Abrams Biography

Elliott Abrams is an American diplomat, lawyer, and political scientist who served in foreign policy positions for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He was convicted of withholding information from Congress about the Iran–Contra affair while serving under Reagan, but was pardoned by President George H. W. Bush.

Abrams is currently a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. During the Reagan administration, he gained notoriety for his involvement in controversial foreign policy decisions regarding Nicaragua and El Salvador.

During George W. Bush’s first term, Abrams served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs. At the start of Bush’s second term, he was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting Bush’s strategy of advancing democracy abroad.

Abrams’ appointment by Bush was controversial due to his conviction in 1991 on two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully withholding information from Congress during the Iran–Contra affair investigation.

Elliott Abrams Age

He was born on January 24, 1948 in New York City, New York, United States. He is 75 years old as of 2022.

Elliott Abrams Height

Abrams stands at an estimated height of 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Elliott Abrams Family

Abram was born to his loving parents, his father (Norman Podhoretz) who was an immigration lawyer and his mother Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin who worked as a public school teacher.

Elliott Abrams Wife

Abrams was married to Rachel Abrams from 1980–2013. Abrams was introduced to her by Senator Moynihan’s friend Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary. They go married in 1980 until her death in June 2013. The couple had three children: Jacob, Sarah, and Joseph.

Elliott Abrams Net Worth

He has an estimated net worth of about $1 million to $5 million.

Elliott Abrams Salary

He earns an estimated salary of about $10000 to $50000 annually.

Elliott Abrams Education

He attended the Little Red School House in New York City, a private high school whose students at the time included the children of many of the city’s notable left-wing activists and artists. His parents were Democrats.

Elliott Abrams received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1969, a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics in 1970, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1973.

Elliott Abrams Early Career

Abrams practised law in New York in the summers for his father, and then at Breed, Abbott and Morgan from 1973 to 1975 and with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand from 1979 to 1981.

He worked as an assistant counsel on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 1975, then worked as a staffer on Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson’s brief campaign for the 1976 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

From 1977 through 1979, Abrams served as special counsel and ultimately as chief of staff for the then-new senator Daniel Moynihan. Growing dissatisfaction with President Carter’s foreign policy led Abrams to support Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.

Elliott Abrams Books

• 2017 – Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Policy After the Arab Spring
• 2013 – Tested by Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• 1997 – Faith or Fear: How Jews Can Survive in a Christian America
• 1995 – Security and sacrifice
• 1992 – Undue Process: A Story of how Political Differences are Turned Into Crimes
• Iran: The Nuclear Challenge