Quick Facts
Biography
Wayne Lee Berman is an American businessman and lobbyist. He currently works for the Blackstone Group. He was formerly the chairman of Ogilvy Government Relations, a division of Ogilvy & Mather. Berman is considered a key figure in Republican political advocacy who served as a senior advisor on the 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaigns.
Berman, a native of Rochester, New York, is married to Lea Berman, who served as the Social Secretary and Special Assistant to the President under George W. Bush and prior to that, served as chief-of-staff for Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne Cheney.
Berman was a close friend of Senator John McCain and a supporter of his during his 2008 presidential campaign. In October 2008, Berman made an anonymous comment to the press calling Sarah Palin, McCain's vice presidential nominee, a "diva". The quote received considerable media attention and infuriated Palin and others within the campaign.