Philip Murphy’s days as U.S. ambassador to Germany may be numbered. However, many of the media accounts have misrepresented Murphy’s position. Among the thousands of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks was one that the media characterized as Murphy writing unflatteringly about Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the head of the Free Democrats party, which has demanded Murphy’s recall.

 

Most accounts state that Murphy described Westerwelle as “arrogant, vain and critical of America,” as well as lacking gravitas, being too opportunistic to be trusted “and too fixated on maintaining his ‘cult of personality.’” In fact, Murphy was quoting German insiders and he even downplayed the significance of the assessment by noting, “There was a consensus among desk officers—driven, perhaps, by political bias—that Westerwelle was arrogant and too fixated on maintaining his 'cult of personality.'”

 

So who is Ambassador Murphy?

 

A former powerbroker on Wall Street, Philip D. Murphy was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Germany August 7, 2009, after spending several years during the mid-1990s as head of Goldman Sachs’ Frankfurt office. His familiarity with the German economy, however, isn’t the only reason why he was selected by President Barack Obama for the diplomatic post. Murphy held the Democratic Party’s top finance job from 2006-2009, and he and his wife, Tammy, have contributed more than $1 million to Democratic candidates over the years.

 

A native of the Boston area, Murphy was born in 1957. He graduated from Harvard University in 1979 with a bachelor’s in economics, and then attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to earn his MBA in 1983.

 

Murphy first joined Goldman Sachs in 1982 as a summer associate, embarking on what became a 23-year career with the firm, rising to senior director in 2003. Working in the U.S., Europe and Asia, Murphy served as head of the German Region (1993-1997), president of Goldman Sachs Asia (1997-1999), and global co-head of the Investment Management Division. He also served on the firm’s management committee. He retired from Goldman Sachs in 2006.

 

In 2005, Murphy chaired a task force that proposed reforms to New Jersey's pension system for public employees.

 

After leaving Goldman Sachs, Murphy was offered the post of National Finance Chair by the Democratic National Committee’s top man, Howard Dean. Murphy faced a stiff challenge to improve the DNC’s fundraising, which at one point lagged behind its rival, the Republican National Committee, $57.3 million v. $36.8 million, in 2007.

 

During the Democratic presidential primary, Murphy, a party superdelegate, remained uncommitted between Obama and rival Hillary Clinton through May 2008.

 

After leaving the DNC early in 2009, Murphy focused on his own business, Murphy Endeavors, LLC, before receiving the nomination of ambassador to Germany.

 

OpenSecrets.org has included Murphy and his wife in its list of Goldman Sachs employees who have contributed at least $50,000 to federal candidates and parties during one or more election cycles. The Murphys’ total contributions are listed at $1,221,500 with 92% going to Democrats.

 

Aside from his work on Wall Street and in the Democratic Party, Murphy has served on the boards or in other capacities for The Goldman Sachs Foundation, Investment Company Institute, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, NAACP Special Contribution Fund, Center for American Progress, 180 Turning Lives Around, the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program, the Wharton School’s Graduate Executive and Asian program, Prosperity New Jersey, and the NAACP’s President/CEO Search Committee.

 

He co-chaired a task force on public education with then-Arizona Governor (and now Secreetary of Homeland Security) Janet Napolitano and Professor Roger Wilkins of George Mason University.

 

Murphy’s interest in soccer led him to serve on the boards of the U.S. Soccer Foundation and the U.S. Soccer Federation World Cup Bid Committee to win either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, and to help bring a professional women’s soccer franchise Sky Blue FC, to New Jersey in 2008.

 

Murphy and his wife, who met in 1987 and married in 1994, have three sons and one daughter.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

German Party Urges US to Recall Envoy over Wikileaks (BBC News)

Cable 09Berlin1162, Germany's Next Foreign Minister?: The World (see paragraph 5)

 (WikiLeaks)