Andy Schmookler

Andrew Bard Schmookler (born 1946) is an American author, public speaker, social commentator, and radio talk show host. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party for U.S. Representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district during the 2012 general election.

Schmookler graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College. He did graduate study at the University of Chicago and Yale University. He completed his doctoral work at the University of California at Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union in a program created specially to accommodate his comprehensive theory of human history. In 1984, the International Society of Political Psychology awarded Schmookler the Erik H. Erickson prize for excellence and creativity in the field of political psychology for writing The Parable of the Tribes. In 1985, Schmookler was selected by Esquire magazine as “one of the men and women under forty who are changing the nation.”

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Schmookler helped with the analysis of possible future challenges for American policy-makers. In a project with the Public Agenda Foundation, he interviewed the best minds in the country, in various related fields, on how the United States might best achieve security in an age of nuclear weapons. In the 1990s, the United States Army hired Schmookler to assist on the formulation of a project on the prevention of biological terrorism.

Schmookler’s commentaries on social and political issues have appeared in local and national publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, The Baltimore Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Albuquerque Tribune. He has been a radio commentator for National Public Radio in Washington and in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

His commentaries also appear regularly on such websites as HuffPost, Daily Kos, Blue Virginia, Like the Dew, and OpedNews.

Schmookler has presented his ideas before audiences at Harvard University, St. John’s College in Annapolis, the University of Wisconsin, as Presidential Lecturer at the University of Montana and at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has appeared as invited speaker at Findhorn in Scotland, the Isthmus Institute in Dallas, the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Washington and New York, and the Harmonia Mundi Conference in California.

Democratic nominee Schmookler challenged incumbent Republican nominee Bob Goodlatte.

Schmookler described “a moral crisis in America” that has manifested principally in the arena of political power. He argued that a force has emerged on the political right that represents the convergence of three currents running through American history: an imperialistic impulse, unbridled greed, and a form of religiosity that emphasizes division and conflict. He made his call to address this crisis in America the principal theme of his congressional race.