Plenary Session: James Carville

Lawyer, NYT best-selling author, political strategist, media personality, college professor

Monday, January 6  |  8:00-9:30am

Van Jones

James Carville, The Great Communicator, is a Louisianian! He answers to "The Ragin' Cajun" and is a devoted LSU Tiger fan!

Regarded as America's best-known political consultant, Carville's long list of electoral successes evidence a knack for steering overlooked campaigns toward unexpected landslide victories and for re-making political underdogs into upset winners.

The Ragin Cajun's most prominent victory, the 1992 win for the Presidency by William Jefferson Clinton, cemented his status as a major political player. In recent years, Carville has focused his strategic thinking on international campaigns reaching more than 23 countries around the globe.

An eight-time New York Times best-selling author, Carville's most recent tome, We're Still Right, They're Still Wrong, was released in 2016. This actor, talk show host, and public speaker returned to his home state of Louisiana in 2008. He is now a prominent advocate for the City of New Orleans and recently wrapped up an almost decade long professorship at Tulane University to join Louisiana State University's School of Mass Communications as a Manship Fellow.

"When one has retired from the ranks of American domestic political consulting, as I have, you are not really allowed to just quit," Carville said. "You become emeritus, of counsel, senior status, and God knows what."