Lawrence Goldberg

Lawrence Yale Goldberg, who served on the national campaign staff for three Republican presidential campaigns and who served in the Nixon White House as liaison to the Jewish community, died Jan. 29 of cancer. He was 80.

Born in Providence, R.I., to Jean and Jesse Goldberg, Mr. Goldberg grew up in a secular Jewish home heavily influenced by the socialist politics of his immigrant grandparents, yet steeped in Yiddish culture. Mr. Goldberg did his undergraduate work at Brown University and earned a law degree at Harvard Law School.

Mr. Goldberg worked as a tax lawyer and later for his father's toy business, but he found time to indulge a growing love of politics, turning to the right from his grandparents' politics.

When the state of Israel was recognized in 1948 while he was still a teen, he came of age politically and, motivated by his lifelong love of Israel and Zionism, he subsequently spent his entire life actively participating in the electoral process, in helping to implement public policy, and in serving as a leader both nationally and in his local community. He participated in more than 50 political campaigns at the federal and state levels, mostly on behalf of Republicans.

Max Fisher, a high-level Republican Party operative, conscripted Goldberg to work for President Richard Nixon as liaison to the Jewish community.

Mr. Goldberg served as co-chair of "Republicans for Clinton-Gore" in 1992 because of his dissatisfaction with the Israel policy of President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker.

At various times, Mr. Goldberg was assistant director of the Federal Preparedness Agency, a predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; assistant director of the Community Services Administration, which ran the War Against Poverty program; and a member of the U.S. State Department's Commission on International Education and Cultural Affairs. Several of these posts required U.S. Senate confirmation.

His work was noted in stories in many publications, including the New York Times. In his book, "Jews in American Politics," Stephen Isaacs described Mr. Goldberg's political work, especially that in the 1972 presidential campaign, as "creative and brilliant."

He served as vice president of Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Later, he lectured on federal elections and primaries at the University of San Francisco's Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning.

He held national leadership positions with the American Jewish Committee, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Anti-Defamation League, United Jewish Appeal, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Community Relations Council of Rhode Island, Jewish Federation of Rhode Island and Interfaith Alliance of California and Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

The Goldbergs moved to Tiburon in 1994 and he joined the Belvedere Tennis Club, where he played tennis often.

Delighting in political conversation, Mr. Goldberg sought out ordinary citizens as well as political adversaries for discussion and friendship, his wife said. He founded a Marin bipartisan men's lunch group, which met every Friday since last year, to discuss current political issues.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy; two children, David Goldberg of Riverdale, N.Y.; and Melissa Bailey of Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; two stepchildren, Jonathan Barker of Fairfax and Lori Barker of Los Angeles; and four grandchildren, Benjamin Goldberg, Amanda and Harrison Rose, and Adam Barker.

Donations in his memory may be sent to the Palliative Care Program of Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, 2150 Post St., San Francisco, CA 94115; or the Jewish Community Relations Council, 121 Steuart St., San Francisco, CA 94105.