NOTE:
The following is extracted from the 1983 USFL Media
Guide. Supplemental information follows.
Berl Bernhard, chairman and chief executive officer of
the Washington Federals, has "the perfect
resume," according to a recent article in The
Washington Post.
Small wonder, for Bernhard has compiled an amazing
series of accomplishments in the legal, political,
academic and athletic arenas.
Though his football experience is somewhat limited (a
knee cartilage injury ended his playing days at
Dartmouth), Bernhard's knowledge and love of sports is
not. |
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BERL
BERNHARD
Chairman and C.E.O.
Washington Federals |
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An avid yachtsman for the past quarter-century, the
53-year old Bernhard has become one of America's more
successful skippers. The highlight of his racing
career came in 1981 when he captained his yacht "Invictus"
to a first-place finish both in class and overall
performance in the annual Annapolis-to-Newport open sea
race.
It has been away from the sporting scene, though, where
Bernhard has received far more national acclaim.
He attended Dartmouth University, serving as student
body president, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a
junior. Bernhard graduated magna cum laude, with
highest distinction in government, in 1951. He
went on to Yale Law School, and worked as a graduate
instructor in the undergraduate political science
department, before receiving his juris doctor degree in
1954.
Bernhard worked as a law clerk in the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia. In 1960, he
formed his own law firm. Known today as Verner,
Lipfert, Bernhard and MacPherson, Bernhard currently is
chairman and senior partner. The firm, which has
now grown to 70 lawyers, has attracted such clients as
Pan American World Airways, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, Hughes Communications and the Kennedy Center,
among others.
Bernhard's involvement in the national political scene
has been extensive. From 1965 to 1971, he served
as both the general counsel for the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee and as special counsel for
the Democratic National Committee. In 1968,
Bernhard served as Sen. Edmund Muskie's speechwriter and
four years later assumed the responsibility of running
Muskie's campaign for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
He has had two tenures within the State
Department. Beginning in 1964, he served four
years as consultant to the office of Secretary of State
Dean Rusk and special consultant to under-secretary W.
Averell Harriman. In 1980, following President
Jimmy Carter's appointment of Muskie as Secretary of
State, Bernhard returned as senior advisor to the
Secretary.
At present, Bernhard serves on the board of trustees at
Dartmouth and is on the board of Democrats for the
'80's, a political action committee begun by the
Honorable and Mrs. W. Averell Harriman.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:
Bernhard's Federals entered the Washington scene at
precisely the wrong time - just weeks after the NFL's
Redskins had won Super Bowl XVII, the club's first
championship in decades. After two seasons of
trying to make the Feds a success and an abortive effort
to sell the club to Sherwood "Woody" Weiser,
Bernhard sold the franchise to Tampa Bay Bandits limited
partner Donald Dizney, who relocated the team to Orlando
for the 1985 season. Bernhard resumed his career
in law and politics, serving as national finance
chairman for the 1986 and 1992 re-election campaigns of
Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, as well as chairman
of The Aspen Institute for five years beginning in
1991. As of 2007, Bernhard continues to reside in
the Washington area, serving as a partner of DLA Piper,
a legal "superfirm" that boasts 3,200 lawyers
worldwide. |
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