Steve Israel

Steve Israel served in the U.S.  Congress between 2001–2017, including 4 years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (2011–2015). He left Washington – unindicted and undefeated – to pursue new passions. In 2021 he opened a small independent bookshop, Theodore’s Books, in his historic hometown of Oyster Bay, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He also directs the nonpartisan Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at the Jeb S. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. He has published two critically acclaimed satires of Washington: The Global War on Morris (2014) and Big Guns (2018). He proudly serves on The Library of Congress Madison Council as well as many other boards of directors. He lives with his wife Cara in Oyster Bay, Long Island, not far from the home of Theodore Roosevelt, who, Israel notes, also wrote a few good books.