Gottheimer graduated from West Essex High School, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School. While he attended Pennsylvania, he served on the rapid response team for Bill Clinton"s 1996 reelection campaign. Gottheimer attended the University of Oxford for a year following Clinton"s reelection.
He has been active within the Democratic Party as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton and as an advisor for the presidential campaigns of Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton. He has also worked for Burson-Marsteller, the Federal Communications Commission, Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft. He is currently running for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey"s 5th congressional district.
At the age of 16, Gottheimer served as a United States Senate Page for Frank Lautenberg, a Senator from New Jersey.
Through high school and college, Gottheimer held internships with Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, the Secretary of the United States Senate, and Tom Foley, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He joined the Clinton administration as a speechwriter in 1998, at the age of 23, working in the administration until its end in 2001.
While attending law school, Gottheimer worked for Wesley Clark"s 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry"s 2004 presidential campaign, and Hillary Clinton"s 2008 presidential campaign as an advisor. After the 2004 election, Gottheimer worked for the Ford Motor Company, and then became executive vice president for Burson-Marsteller.
He worked for the Federal Communications Commission from 2010 through 2012, where he led an initiative related to broadband internet.
He then joined Microsoft as a strategist. Gottheimer is running for the House of Representatives in New Jersey"s 5th congressional district, a seat held by Republican Scott Garrett, in the 2016 elections. Gottheimer has attracted more attention than previous challengers to Garrett due to his fundraising ability and ties to the Clintons.
His campaign"s 2015 financial filings, in which Gottheimer reported raising around $1 million through the end of September, showed that "about one dollar in six came directly from fellow alumni of the Clinton White House and campaigns..or from major donors and employees of consulting firms tied closely to the Clintons.".
