Nov 25, 1944

Washington, D.C., United States

Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an Emmy Award-winning American lawyer, law professor, actor, comedian, game show host and former White House speechwriter. He is the son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein.[1] His sister, Rachel, is a writer.

Contents [hide]
1 Early years
2 Legal and academic career
3 Writing career
4 Political career
5 Books authored
6 Career in the media
7 Personal life
8 Notes
9 External links



[edit] Early years
Ben Stein... ... (read more...) was born to American Jewish parents in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the Woodside Forest neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland. He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School, where his classmates included journalist Carl Bernstein and actors Goldie Hawn and Sylvester Stallone. He also scored a nearly perfect 1573 on his SATs[citation needed]. He went on to major in economics at Columbia University's Columbia College, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and the Philolexian Society. After graduating with honors from Columbia in 1966, Stein went to Yale Law School, graduating in 1970 first in his class.


[edit] Legal and academic career
Ben Stein was first a poverty lawyer in New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. before becoming a trial lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission.[2]

Stein's first teaching stint was as an adjunct professor, teaching political and social content of mass culture at American University in Washington, D.C., and then at University of California, Santa Cruz. He also held classes on political and civil rights from the United States Constitution at UC Santa Cruz. From 1966 to 1988 he was addicted to drugs, specifically dilaudin, demerol, marijuana, dexamil, and cocaine.

At Pepperdine University in Southern California, Stein taught libel law and United States securities law and its ethical aspects. He was a professor of law at Pepperdine University Law School, from about 1990 to 1997.[3]

In addition, Stein is very interested in American Civil War history, and is a strong supporter of the Civil War Preservation Trust.


[edit] Writing career
A frequent writer, Ben Stein has authored books on several topics, including economics. He writes a regular column in the conservative magazine The American Spectator. He has also written for numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Penthouse, Los Angeles Magazine and Barron's Magazine, where his discussion of the Michael Milken Drexel Burnham Lambert junk bond situation, as well as the ethical dimensions of management buyouts, attracted heavy US national attention in the 1980s and 1990s. He currently writes a regular column for the Sunday New York Times Business Section and for Yahoo! Finance online.


[edit] Political career
Ben Stein, along with his writing colleague Mike Eichlerstein, began his political career as a speechwriter and lawyer for United States President Richard Nixon, and later for President Gerald Ford. Stein was one of many public figures speculated to have been Deep Throat. As far back as May 3, 1976, Time magazine had speculated on the possibility of Stein being Deep Throat.

Stein responded over the years by not only denying he was Deep Throat, but by going further and accusing journalist Bob Woodward of falsifying the famous secret source. In the May 14–21, 1998, edition of the Philadelphia City Paper Stein is quoted saying, "Oh, I don't think there was a Deep Throat. That was a fake. I think there were several different sources and some they just made up." [4] After Mark Felt's identity as Deep Throat was revealed, Stein stated that Nixon would have prevented the rise to power of the Khmer Rouge if he had not been forced to resign. For his actions leading to that resignation, Stein said "If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide." [5]

Some have called Stein a "Nixon apologist" due to his fervent defense of Nixon's legacy. As recently as 2005, in the American Spectator, Stein said "Nixon was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering-up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war-starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton—a lying, conniving peacemaker."

Stein is a vocal supporter of the Republican Party[citation needed]. He is a pro-life activist and was given a Pro-Life Award in 2003 by the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.[6]