Stuart Eizenstat, 1961, Diplomat and Attorney

One minute, he was on the basketball court as an all-city and honorable mention All-American player aiming for a hoop with a large Grady log across the chest. Next, he was one of the right hand men for the President of the United States. 

Stuart Eizenstat, who graduated with the Class of 1961, made a global impact with a significant career as a politician and lawyer using the skills he learned at Grady. After being recognized as a top student with a 4.0 GPA, he furthered his post-secondary education at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he graduated sum laude. 

He progressed to Harvard Law School, receiving his Juris Doctorate in 1967. In 2008, UNC created the Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat Distinguished Professorship in Jewish history and culture in Eizenstat’s honor. 

“Nothing, academically, would have been possible without the grounding that I got at Grady in academics and in discipline,”Eizenstat said.

He was heavily involved in sports, including basketball and baseball, and enjoyed the mandatory JROTC that he went through during his high school years. 

“If Grady is not doing well, one point down with 10 seconds to go, and you are at the free throw line and you have a one and one shot,” Eizenstat said. “It teaches you how to operate under pressure.”

Eizenstat’s friend,Henry Bower Jr., introduced him to Jimmy Carter, as he was working for the Georgia governor election campaign for Carl Sanders. From there, Eizenstat and Carter begin working closely together. He became Carter’s policy director when he ran for governor in 1970 and later became his policy director when he ran for president in 1975-76. He continued to serve when he was in office as the White House Domestic Policy Adviser from 1977-81.

“Henry began my relationship with Jimmy Carter that would shake my entire life, which really propelled my whole public career,” Eizenstat said. “It was all a result of my friendship with Henry at Grady High School.”

After serving for Carter after he was elected president in 1976,, Eizenstat continued his political career as the United States Ambassador to the European Union from 1993 to 1996 and as President Bill Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in 1999 to 2001. 

For the past 20 years, he has served as the international lead and senior counsel for Covington & Burling, a world-wide law firm based in Washington, D.C., and was appointed as the Special Advisor for the Holocaust Issues by the U.S Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton,  in 2013.

For his specialized work in world peace and Holocaust restoration, Eizenstat has received international recognition and awards, including the Leo Baeck Medal in 2013 and the Knight Commander’s Cross (Badge and Star) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution.

He paved his path with the academic foundation set at Grady as an A-student.

“Grady High School was absolutely essential for propelling me for the career that I later had in public service and in law, building an academic and athletic foundation and bringing lifelong friends,” Eizenstat said.