David Gergen, Adviser To 4 U.S. Presidents, Has Dementia

In one of his final messages shared with the public, Gergen told his daughter that America is "being tested now."

David Gergen, a political commentator who’s served in the White House under four presidents, has been diagnosed with dementia, his daughter revealed in The Boston Globe.

Gergen, 82, has Lewy body dementia, his daughter, family medicine doctor Katherine Gergen Barnett, wrote, describing the disease as “a combination of Parkinson’s meets Alzheimer’s.”

“Watching the wrecking ball of Lewy body dementia careen into the fortress of my father’s mind has been devastating,” she wrote, saying his body and mind have quickly declined.

Gergen’s career highlights include serving during the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. He served as an official counselor to Clinton, as the White House communications director for Ford and Reagan and the speechwriting director for Nixon. He’s spent his last few years as a political analyst at CNN.

In her piece for the Globe, Gergen’s daughter shared some of her father’s recent thoughts, including ones on the current political climate.