David Richmond Gergen (born May 9, 1942) is an American political consultant and former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is currently Director of the Center for Public Leadership and a professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen is the Editor-at-large for U.S. News and World Report and the Senior Political Analyst for CNN.

David Gergen was born in Durham, North Carolina. He is the youngest of four children of Aubigne Munger (née Lermond) and Dr. John Jay Gergen, who once chaired Duke University's mathematics department. His brother, Kenneth J. Gergen, is a psychologist and professor at Swarthmore College.

Gergen served in the U.S. Navy for three-and-a-half years, serving on a ship home-ported in Japan. Gergen earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1963 and was a member of Manuscript Society. In 1967, he received his law degree from Harvard Law School. In 1967, Gergen married Anne Gergen of England. She is a family therapist; they live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They have two children, Christopher and Katherine, and four grandchildren.

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

Jodi Kantor (born April 21, 1975) is a The New York Times correspondent and author of the best-selling book The Obamas, published by Little Brown in January 2012. She has been writing about Barack and Michelle Obama, along with numerous other political figures, since 2007.

After growing up in New York City, Kantor moved to Holmdel Township, New Jersey where she graduated from Holmdel High School. Kantor graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University in 1996. She was selected for and participated on the prestigious Dorot Fellowship in Israel from 1996-97 and later served as a New York City Urban Fellow. Later, she attended Harvard Law School for one semester, taking a leave to work at Slate, where she became an editor. After corresponding with New York Times columnist Frank Rich about how that paper could improve its arts coverage, she was brought on as editor of the Arts and Leisure section by Howell Raines. She is thought to be the youngest person to edit a section of the New York Times.^{[citation needed]} Under the guidance of Rich and others, she remade the section to include a more visual approach, new features and more ambitious reporting.

Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories. As of September 2011, he also serves as host of his own eponymous syndicated daytime talk show, Anderson.

Anderson Hays Cooper was born on June 3, 1967, the younger son of the writer Wyatt Emory Cooper and the artist, designer, writer, and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, and is a great-great-great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt of the prominent Vanderbilt shipping and railroad fortune. Cooper's media experience began early. As a baby, he was photographed by Diane Arbus for Harper's Bazaar. He is also a descendant, through his mother, of Brevet Major General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick who was with Union General William T. Sherman in his March through Georgia.

At the age of 3 Cooper was a guest on The Tonight Show on September 17, 1970, appearing with his mother. At the age of 9, he appeared on To Tell the Truth as an impostor. From age 10 to 13 Cooper modeled with Ford Models for Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Macy's.

Raymond T. "Ray" Odierno (pronounced /oʊdiˈɛərnoʊ/; born September 8, 1954) is a United States Army general and the 38th and current Chief of Staff of the Army. Odierno most recently commanded United States Joint Forces Command from October 2010 until its disestablishment in August 2011. He served as Commanding General, United States Forces – Iraq and its predecessor, Multi-National Force – Iraq, from September 2008 through September 2010. Prior to that, he served as Commanding General, III Corps, from May 2006 to May 2008. General Odierno is the twelfth American military officer to command at the Division, Corps, and Army level during the same conflict and only the second to have this honor since the Vietnam War. He assumed his current assignment on September 7, 2011.

Prior to commanding III Corps, he served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, where he was the primary military advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 3 November 2004 to 1 May 2006.