1. Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger was a Democratic attorney who served as the 18th US National Security Advisor for US President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001 after he had served as the Deputy National Security Advisor for the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997.
When disbarment proceedings were initiated on account of his theft of documents, Berger gave up his license to practice law by conceding the truth of the material allegations of misconduct and consenting to his disbarment.
Sandy Berger was born to a Jewish family in Millerton, New York, where his parents ran a surplus store.
Sandy Berger graduated from Webutuck High School in 1963, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Cornell University in 1967, and his earned Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1971.
At Cornell, Sandy Berger was a member of the Quill and Dagger society with Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Hadley.
Sandy Berger later urged Clinton to run for President of the United States.
Sandy Berger was Deputy Director of Policy Planning for the US Department of State from 1977 to 1980 under Secretary of State Cyrus Vance during the Carter administration.
Sandy Berger served as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Governor Clinton during the campaign, and as Assistant Transition Director for National Security of the 1992 Clinton-Gore Transition.
Sandy Berger served eight years on the National Security Council staff, first from 1993 to 1997 as deputy national security advisor, under Anthony Lake, whom Sandy Berger had recommended for the role, and then succeeding Lake as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1997 to 2001.
Sandy Berger was both great in analyzing a situation and figuring out what to do about it.
Sandy Berger's gifts proved invaluable time and time again, in Latin America, the Balkans, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East.
Sandy Berger advised the President regarding the Khobar Towers bombing and responses to the terrorist bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Sandy Berger was advised by the White House to sell the stock in early 1994.
Sandy Berger said he had planned to sell the stock, but then forgot.
Sandy Berger denied knowingly participating in decisions in which he had a financial interest.
In 1999, Sandy Berger was criticized for failing to promptly inform President Clinton of his knowledge that the People's Republic of China had managed to acquire the designs of a number of US nuclear warheads.
Sandy Berger was originally briefed of the espionage by the Department of Energy in April 1996, but did not inform the president until July 1997.
An associate of Sandy Berger said Sandy Berger took one copy in September 2003 and four copies in October 2003, allegedly by stuffing the documents into his socks and pants.
Sandy Berger subsequently lied to investigators when questioned about the removal of the documents.
Sandy Berger was fined $50,000, sentenced to serve two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, and stripped of his security clearance for three years.
The Justice Department initially said Sandy Berger only stole copies of classified documents and not originals, but the House Government Reform Committee later revealed that an unsupervised Sandy Berger had been given access to classified files of original, uncopied, uninventoried documents on terrorism.
On December 20,2006, Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that Sandy Berger took a break to go outside without an escort.
Sandy Berger acknowledged having later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.
The Board on Professional Responsibility of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals commenced a professional-misconduct disciplinary proceeding against Sandy Berger, based on his conviction for theft of classified documents.
On May 17,2007, Sandy Berger was disbarred from the practice of law upon consenting to his disbarment, conceding that the material allegations of misconduct were true and he knew that he could not successfully defend against the disciplinary proceeding.
Sandy Berger served as a foreign policy adviser to Senator Hillary Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign.
Sandy Berger was an advisory board member for the Partnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.
Sandy Berger served on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Doha Center.
Sandy Berger served on the board of directors of the International Crisis Group and World Food Program USA, and on the advisory boards of the National Security Network, and America Abroad Media.
Sandy Berger lived in the American University Park neighborhood of Washington, DC, was married to Susan Harrison Sandy Berger, and had three children.
Sandy Berger died of cancer in Washington, DC, on December 2,2015, at the age of 70, more than a year after being diagnosed.
Sandy Berger was one of our nation's foremost national security leaders.
From his service in President Carter's State Department to President Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger devoted himself to strengthening American leadership in an uncertain world.
Around the globe, families and children are living healthier, more secure lives because, as a private citizen, Sandy Berger was a humanitarian who helped the world respond to crises and feed the hungry.
In November 2015, Sandy Berger was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government for his contributions to promotion of a strong and friendly relationship between the United States and Japan, particularly in his role as National Security Adviser to President Clinton.
Sandy Berger provided legal and commercial advice to the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC.
In 2000, Sandy Berger was presented with an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University in Israel.