Andrew H. Card, Jr., “Andy Card” is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the George & Barbara Bush Foundation, having been appointed to this role in December 2023. Secretary Card assumed this role as the Bush Foundation prepares for its June 2024 Centennial Celebration, 41@100: A Celebration of George H.W. Bush, which commemorates President Bush’s 100th birthday.
Mr. Card’s long association with President George H.W. Bush began in the late 1970’s, when he ran the Bush for President campaign in his home state of Massachusetts. Mr. Card and then-Ambassador Bush spent countless hours together crisscrossing the state in Mr. Card’s Chevy Chevette. They forged a bond that led to Mr. Card’s decades-long career of public service.
From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Card served as Deputy White House Chief of Staff and then as a Cabinet Member for President George H.W. Bush as the 11th Secretary of Transportation. In August 1992, at the request of President Bush, Secretary Card coordinated the Administration’s disaster relief efforts in the wake of the massive Hurricane Andrew. He also directed President Bush’s transition office during the transition from the Bush Administration to the Clinton Administration. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant (1983 to 1987) and later as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for President Ronald Reagan (1988) where he was liaison to governors, statewide elected officials, state legislators, mayors, and other elected officials. From March 1987 until March 1988, Card ran the successful New Hampshire Presidential Primary Campaign for George H.W. Bush.
Mr. Card previously served as Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. from January 2018 until January 2021. From June 2020 until December 2020, he also served as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of the George & Barbara Bush Foundation. In August 2016, Card retired as President of Franklin Pierce University with its anchor campus in Rindge, NH and other campuses in Lebanon, Manchester and Portsmouth, NH, and Goodyear AZ. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Card served as Executive Director of the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M University from August 2013 until December 2015. He served as Acting Dean of The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University from July 5, 2011, until Dean Ryan Crocker's return from service as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan on August 1, 2013. The Bush School was founded by President George H.W. Bush and is located adjacent to the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
Mr. Card, the second longest tenured White House Chief of Staff, has served in senior government roles under three U.S. Presidents. Card serves on the Board of Directors of Hyliion, Draganfly, Inc., the Aurora Tech Industry Advisory Council, and on a number of other non-profit boards. He served on the Board of Directors of public corporation Union Pacific, and on the Board of Lorillard until it was purchased by RIA in 2015. He also was on the Edward M. Kennedy Institute Board, the Business Advisory Board of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, the Global Advisory Board of Alexander Proudfoot, and the Advisory Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is also a professional speaker represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau (WSB).
Mr. Card, appointed in November 2000, served as Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush from January 2001 to April 2006. In this capacity, he coordinated the priorities of the Administration’s agenda, the development of policies, and appointments of Cabinet Secretaries and senior officials throughout the government. On September 11, 2001, Card is the one who whispered in President Bush’s ear while the President was sitting in a classroom in Florida, that terrorists had attacked the United States. Card then led a government-wide reorganization to best allocate resources to deal with the aftermath of 9-11 and the new terrorist environment.
Prior to his tenure as White House Chief of Staff, Card managed and ran the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia at the request of nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush. Before that, Card was Vice President-Government Relations for General Motors Corporation, one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers. In this role, Card directed the company’s international, national, state, and local government affairs activities and represented GM on matters of public policy before the U.S. Congress and the Administration. From 1993 to 1998, Card was President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, the trade association whose members were Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation. When Chrysler became part of Daimler Corporation, Card oversaw the dissolution of the nearly 100-year-old trade association.
He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Engineering. He also attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Card served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1967.Card has been the recipient of many honorary degrees and awards.
Card is a native of Holbrook, Massachusetts and got his start in politics as an elected official in Holbrook and then as Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1975-1983. He served as a Minority Whip from 1977-1983. In 1982 he was named Legislator of the Year by the National Republican Legislators Association and received the Distinguished Legislator Award from the Massachusetts Municipal Association. He was a candidate for the Republican Nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1982.
He and his wife, The Reverend Kathleene (Bryan) Card, also from Holbrook, Massachusetts, have three children and six grandchildren.