Michael Froman
Michael Froman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Braverman Goodman Froman August 20, 1962 San Rafael, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney, government official |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Known for | U.S. Trade Representative (2013–2017), President of the Council on Foreign Relations (2023–present) |
Michael Braverman Goodman Froman (born August 20, 1962) is an American attorney who currently leads the Council on Foreign Relations as its president. He held the position of U.S. Trade Representative from 2013 until 2017. Prior to that, he was Assistant to the President of the United States and served as Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, a post that bridged responsibilities between the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In this role, he functioned as the U.S. sherpa for economic summits such as the G7, G8, and G20. On May 2, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated him to replace Ambassador Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative, with his confirmation following on June 19, 2013.
Early life and education
Froman was born on August 20, 1962, and raised in a Jewish household in San Rafael. He completed his secondary education at the Branson School. During his teenage years, he actively participated in the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, serving as its 56th International President in 1980 and later delivering a speech at the BBYO International Convention in 2013.
He graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public and International Affairs, authoring a senior thesis focused on U.S.-Soviet arms control. Subsequently, he earned a D.Phil. in International Relations from St Antony's College, Oxford in 1988 under the mentorship of Sir Michael Howard. Froman then attained a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, where he was both a peer and collaborator of Barack Obama on the Harvard Law Review.
Career
Froman’s early professional experience included serving as a liaison for the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI) in Albania and contributing to the European Commission’s Forward Studies Unit based in Brussels.
He was selected as a White House Fellow for 1992-93, working within the Office of Economic & Domestic Policy. Between January 1993 and December 1995, Froman acted as Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs on both the National Security Council and National Economic Council. His responsibilities encompassed economic policies related to the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as managing economic elements of the Dayton Accords. Additionally, he held fellowships at both the Council on Foreign Relations and the German Marshall Fund.
A significant portion of Froman's career was spent at the United States Department of the Treasury, where he advanced to Chief of Staff under Secretary Robert Rubin from January 1997 through July 1999.
Following the conclusion of the Clinton administration in 2001, Froman joined Citigroup alongside Rubin, taking on roles including President and CEO of CitiInsurance and head of Emerging Markets Strategy. In this capacity, he oversaw investments related to infrastructure and sustainable development. His compensation during 2008-2009 exceeded $7.4 million.
Froman reestablished his connection with Barack Obama during Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign by providing policy advice and facilitating an introduction to Robert Rubin. In 2008, he became part of Obama’s campaign transition advisory board before returning to government service in 2009 as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs—a position he maintained until 2013.
U.S. Trade Representative
On May 2, 2013, Froman received a nomination to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative. Financial disclosures revealed his ownership of nearly $500,000 in an offshore investment fund located at Ugland House in the Cayman Islands, a jurisdiction President Obama had previously criticized for facilitating significant tax avoidance. During congressional hearings in 2013, Froman responded to concerns about the European Union's low carbon fuel standard, which treats tar-sands oil differently due to its elevated carbon emissions. He described this policy as a "discriminatory, environmentally unjustified" barrier to trade and pledged to support U.S. refiners in negotiations with the European Commission. His participation in the creation of confidential trade agreements, later revealed through WikiLeaks, attracted attention and criticism from both legal experts and political figures.
The Senate confirmed Froman’s appointment with a vote of 93 to 4 on June 19, 2013. Among those opposing was Senator Elizabeth Warren, who questioned his dedication to transparency in trade negotiations. Environmental organizations strongly criticized his covert handling of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, accusing him of favoring Wall Street and corporate interests at the expense of environmental protections.
Between 2013 and 2017, Froman spearheaded U.S. efforts to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty with China—a negotiation that had been underway since 2008 but was halted by the Trump administration despite being "more than 90 percent complete," according to Froman.
In 2017, he became a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. The following year, Mastercard Inc. appointed him as Vice Chairman and President for Strategic Growth. By September 2018, he joined the board of directors at The Walt Disney Company.
Since 2019, Froman has participated in the Transatlantic Task Force organized by the German Marshall Fund and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung (BKHS), co-chaired by Karen Donfried and Wolfgang Ischinger.
In March 2023, he was appointed president of the Council on Foreign Relations, succeeding Richard N. Haass after his two-decade tenure.
Personal
Froman lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Nancy Goodman. Together they have two children: Benjamin and Sarah. Their older son, Jacob, passed away in 2009 at age ten due to a rare form of pediatric brain cancer.