Rivers Alumnus and Influential Political Advisor, Richard Darman '60, Dies

Richard G. Darman '60, who held senior policy positions in the federal government under five presidents, died on January 25 of leukemia at the age of 64.

In 2001, Darman, along with another Rivers alumnus, received the school's inaugural Alumni Excellence Award. The Alumni Association created the award to recognize alumni who have made lasting contributions to their professions.

Darman, who was originally from Wellesley, lived in McLean, VA and was a partner of the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. He was also the chairman of AES Corp., an Arlington, VA-based company that generates and distributes electric power. His most recent political service was as a member of former President George H.W. Bush's cabinet and head of the Office of Management and Budget. He was the principal negotiator of the 1990 budget agreement, which shaped the largest single deficit reduction program in U.S. history.

Darman's government service also included posts in the White House and six cabinet departments. As President Reagan's deputy secretary of the Treasury, Darman won the Treasury's highest award—the Alexander Hamilton Medal—in recognition of his contributions to the 1986 tax reform, the 1985 Plaza Accord, and the 1987 Louvre Accord. He also received honorary doctoral degrees in the sciences, business, and law.

Darman spent a year working for the Carter administration and was Ford’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Under President Nixon, Darman served as an assistant to Elliot Richardson, a 1937 Rivers alumnus, at the Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare, Defense, and Justice.

A 1964 Harvard alumnus and 1967 graduate of the Harvard Business School, Darman was a lecturer at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1977 to 1980.

At Rivers, Darman mastered just about everything he tried; a high honors student with near perfect SAT scores, Darman was also a talented and versatile athlete. He was co-captain of the varsity football, wrestling and lacrosse teams, and held other leadership roles with The Current, glee club and student council.

In a 2001 interview for The Riparian, Darman says the Rivers Alumni Excellence Award holds special significance. "Rivers required me to sample a much wider range of activities than most schools would have done—and then supported me in these diverse pursuits. I doubt I would have had the courage and confidence to pursue careers in three very different domains—government, business, and academe—if it had not been for the strong, early encouragement I gained from Rivers' teachers and coaches."

Darman leaves his wife Kathleen Emmet, PhD and writer, three sons, his mother, two siblings and a granddaughter.