Jack Lew

Jacob Joseph "Jack" Lew (born August 29, 1955) is an American attorney and government official with extensive experience in fiscal policy and public administration. He earned an A.B. from Harvard College in 1978 and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983. Lew's career spans multiple administrations, where he focused on budgeting, management, and economic policy implementation.

Lew served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001, contributing to efforts that achieved federal budget surpluses during that period. In the Obama administration, he held roles including Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources from 2009 to 2010, OMB Director again from 2010 to 2013, White House Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2013, and culminated as the 76th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 2013 to 2017, overseeing responses to economic challenges like the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and international financial diplomacy. More recently, he was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Israel in October 2023, presenting credentials in November 2023 and serving until January 2025 amid heightened U.S.-Israel security cooperation following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

Lew grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, residing in a brick apartment building on Yellowstone Boulevard. The family observed Jewish traditions closer to Conservative Judaism during his childhood, with Lew attending public schools, including Forest Hills High School, where he was known for his academic focus amid a typical suburban Queens environment. By 1960, the family had relocated within the area, maintaining roots in the Jewish community.

Specific academic influences on Lew are not extensively documented in public records, though his Orthodox Jewish upbringing in New York City and involvement in student activism at Harvard likely shaped his focus on government and policy. His early congressional aide role under Moakley, who emphasized bipartisan pragmatism, exerted a notable influence on Lew's approach to public administration, as later reflected in Senate confirmation hearings praising shared work ethic and policy orientation.

Lew married Ruth Schwartz, his high school sweetheart from Forest Hills High School in New York City, and the couple has two adult children: Isaac "Danny" Lew and Shoshana Lew. Shoshana Lew has led the Colorado chapter of an organization focused on Jewish community engagement.