Stephen E. Herbits (born March 13, 1942) is an American businessman, former consultant to several Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of Defense, advisor to the Edgar M. Bronfman family, executive vice president and corporate officer of the Seagram Company, advisor to the President's Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets, and secretary general of the World Jewish Congress. He was the youngest person to be appointed commissioner on the Gates Commission (All-Volunteer Armed Force). Herbits' career has specialized in "fixing" institutions – governmental, business, and not-for-profit – with strategic planning and management consulting.
Background
Son of Nathaniel and Esther Herbits of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Herbits earned his AB from Tufts in 1964 and his JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1972. He has lived in Boston, D.C., Geneva, New York City, Tokyo, London, Seoul, Miami, and currently resides in Western North Carolina.
Early political career (1967–1977) After college and prior to starting law school, Herbits worked as research assistant for Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke's successful campaign for the U.S. Senate (1966). In 1967, Herbits was hired as a Congressional staffer in Washington. It was there that Herbits developed his work on addressing the inequities of the military draft. His work on Capitol Hill led to his providing research and editorial assistance to the publication of "How to End the Draft – The Case for an All-Volunteer Army". The book received national and international attention and subsequently, Herbits was appointed to the President's Commission on An All-Volunteer Armed Force (Gates Commission). Herbits was the youngest Commissioner to receive the appointment, being only 27 years of age. He served alongside noted economists Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan. Subsequently, hired as the special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Manpower and Reserve Affairs in the Department of Defense, he helped implement the transition to an All-Volunteer Armed Force at the senior level. He also authored the study (1974) which gave the acting Secretary of Defense the information used to reverse Army decisions deliberately undermining achieving the All-Volunteer Force.
In 1974, following his work as special assistant at the Department of Defense, Herbits was hired by Donald H. Rumsfeld, then chief of staff to President Gerald Ford. Following his role in the Presidential Personnel Office, he moved to Geneva as Counsel to the Head of the US Delegation to the Multilateral Trade Negotiations (then GATT) in the Office of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations. In 1976 he moved back to the Pentagon under Rumsfeld. Herbits was named The Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, a position equivalent to other departments' Chief of Staff.
While employed in the private sector, Herbits was called back to public service several times. In 1981, he served as an unpaid consultant to assist in transitions for Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, in 1989 for Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, and then again in 2001 for Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. During these transitions, Herbits developed job requirements and objectives for key Department of Defense Presidential Appointments and helped recruit and screen candidates.
Rumsfeld brought Herbits back to the Department of Defense immediately following the attacks of September 11th, 2001 to work on, among other tasks, special projects regarding internal mission development and organizational change as a result of the attacks. In this context, Herbits helped design and create a system of civilian review and succession planning for senior military officers, a project subsequently studied and published by the RAND Corporation.
On several occasions between 1969 and 1977, Herbits did project work with one of the earliest political consulting firms in the country – Bailey, Deardourff.
Corporate career (1977–1997) In 1977, Herbits was hired by the spirits and wine company, Seagram Company Ltd., a Fortune 150 Corporation. He was tasked with developing and implementing strategies for various subsidiaries. Between 1977 and 1983, Herbits held many positions in the company, including vice president of Seagram Overseas Sales Company in Tokyo, vice president of Seagram Europe in London, president of Browne Vintners in New York, and president of Seagram Wine Company in the United States.