Jim Johnson aka James A Johnson former CEO of

Fannie Mae
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For other uses of "James Johnson", see James Johnson (disambiguation).

James A. Johnson (born December 24, 1943) is a United States Democratic Party political figure. He was the
campaign manager for Walter Mondale's failed 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection
committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. He was involved in the vice-presidential selection
process for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama.

Johnson attended the University of Minnesota, and later received a Master of Public Policy degree from the
Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He has been awarded honorary degrees from Howard
University, Skidmore College, Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota.

Career
Johnson has long been one of Washington's most prominent leaders, holding leadership positions in business,
the arts, and politics.

Johnson began his career as a faculty member at Princeton University, later moving on to the United States
Senate as a staff member and to the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corp.) as director of public
affairs. He was executive assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale during the entire Carter Administration
(1977-1981). Later, he founded and headed Public Strategies, a private consulting firm, from 1981 to 1985
before leaving for Lehman Brothers.

From 1991 to 1998, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage
Association (Fannie Mae), the quasi-public organization that guarantees mortgages for millions of American
homeowners. Previously, he was vice chairman of Fannie Mae (1990-1991) and a managing director with
Lehman Brothers (1985-1990). An Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) report[1] from
September 2004 found that, during Johnson's tenure as CEO, Fannie Mae had improperly deferred $200 million
in expenses. This enabled top executives, including Johnson and his successor, Franklin Raines, to receive
substantial bonuses in 1998.[2] A 2006 OFHEO report[3] found that Fannie Mae had substantially under-reported
Johnson's compensation. Originally reported as $6-7 million, Johnson actually received approximately $21
million.

As of 2006, he is a vice chairman of the private banking firm Perseus LLC, a position he has held since 2001.
He is also a board member at Goldman Sachs, Gannett Company, Inc., a media holding group, KB Home, a
home construction firm, Target Corporation, Temple-Inland, and UnitedHealth Group.

Johnson has also served as chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Arts (1996-2004) and the Brookings
Institution (1994-2003). He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American
Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission.
On May 22, 2008, Democratic Party officials confidentially divulged that Obama had asked Johnson "to lead
the process" for selecting Obama's running mate.[4] On June 4, 2008, Obama announced the formation of a three
person committee to vet vice presidential candidates, including Johnson.[5] However, Johnson soon became a
source of controversy when it was reported that he had received loans directly from Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of
Countrywide Financial, a company implicated in the U.S. subprime mortgage lending crisis.[6] Although he was
not accused of any wrongdoing and was initially defended by Obama on the grounds that he was simply an
unpaid volunteer, Johnson announced he would step down from the vice-presidential vetting position on June
11, 2008 in order to avoid being a distraction to Obama's campaign. [7]

Johnson is a strong Obama supporter who has personally donated the maximum $4,600 to his 2008 Presidential
campaign, as well as $1,000 to Obama's Senate campaign in 2004.[8] In addition to personal donations, Johnson
is a bundler for the Obama campaign, raising between $200,000 and $500,000.[9]

On September 19, 2008 the McCain campaign released an ad critical of Obama which linked him to Johnson.
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