Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., served from 1995 until 2013 as President and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA). In his role as the Chief Executive of the AGA, Fahrenkopf was the national advocate and spokesperson for the commercial casino industry and was responsible for positioning the industry to addresses regulatory, legislative, political, and educational issues.
A lawyer be profession, Fahrenkopf gained national prominence during the 1980s when he served as chairman of the Republican Party for six of President Ronald Reagan’s eight years in the White House (1983 to 1989). When Fahrenkopf retired in January 1989, he had served as chairman of the Republican National Committee longer than any person in the 20th century (and second-longest in the history of the party) and led the party through two successful presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. He also served as a resident fellow at Harvard’s JFK Institute on Politics (2014). He has been a frequent commentator on political and gaming issues on such network television programs as Crossfire, Inside Politics, Meet the Press, Hardball, Face the Nation, The Today Show, This Week and Good Morning America. Fahrenkopf continues to serve in a variety of political capacities.
He presently is co-chairman of the commission on Presidential Debates, which conducts the general election presidential and vice presidential debates in presidential election years. He co-founded the commission in 1986 with Democratic National Committee chairman Paul Kirk. He also was a founder of the National Endowment for Democracy, where he served as vice chairman and a board member from 1983 to 1993. Additionally, he serves as a board member of the International Republican Institute (IRI), which he founded in 1984. He served for many years as chairman of the Pacific Democrat Union and vice chairman of the International
Democrat Union, a worldwide association of conservative political parties from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia, and 20 other nations.
Prior to becoming the AGA’s first chief executive on June 1, 1995, Fahrenkopf was a partner in the Washington D.C., office of Hogan & Hartson, where he chaired the International Trade Practice Group. His early legal career included 17 years of practice as a trial and gaming lawyer in Nevada, his home state. In that capacity, he represented clients before Nevada gaming regulatory authorities. Fahrenkopf served as the first chairman of the American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Gaming Law and was a founding trustee and president of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys, a worldwide organization of government gaming regulators and private attorneys acting on behalf of licensed gaming enterprises.
Fahrenkopf currently sits on the Board of Directors of nine New York Stock Exchange public companies, such as First Republic Bank and various Gabelli Investment Trusts. He also serves as a director of El Dorado Resorts, Inc. and as a non-executive Director of BMM, International.
His civic involvement includes service as chairman of the board of governors of the City Club of Washing and as a member of the board of trustees of the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, the Economic Club of Washington, and the Federal City Council. Fahrenkopf also served as a co-chairman of the Rivlin Commission, which investigated and reported on the government of the District of Columbia. He has been honored for his contributions, receiving the Junior Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award in 1973, the Nevada Lung Association “Man of the Year” Award in 1993, and the National Humanitarian of the Year Award from the National Conference on Christians and Jews in 1985. He is a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He also serves as a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
