Michael Johns

Michael Johns (born September 8, 1964) is an American conservative commentator, policy analyst, writer, a former speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush. He is a leader and spokesman in the Tea Party movement. He was also a health care executive.

Early life and education Johns was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Emmaus High School. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1986, receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in economics. As a University of Miami student, he was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor awarded a student by the university. He also studied humanities at the University of Cambridge, England.

In 1988, he became a policy analyst for African and Third World affairs in the Heritage Foundation's foreign policy and defense studies department. While there, he researched and wrote on topics including South Africa, U.S. relations with Zaire and Kenya, the famine in Ethiopia, and the civil wars in Angola and Mozambique.

Johns was a White House speechwriter during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.

He has also worked for New Jersey governor and 9/11 Commission chairman Thomas Kean, Sen. Olympia Snowe and at the International Republican Institute. He has served on the leadership team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition.

Health care career Johns was vice president of Gentiva Health Services and has held senior positions at Eli Lilly and Company and Electric Mobility Corporation.

He has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, National Review, Human Events, and other publications, and appeared as a commentator on CBS News, C-SPAN, and other media. In 2012, National Journal named him one of ten Republicans to follow on Twitter.

Personal life Johns has been a resident of Deptford Township, New Jersey.