Eugene Benton Sperling (born December 24, 1958) is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to serve as national economic advisor under two presidents. Outside of government, he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002. In February 2021, as the nomination of Neera Tanden for OMB director faced opposition, Sperling was considered to be one of the leading contenders to assume the top position. He authored Economic Dignity, which was released on May 5, 2020. Sperling currently serves as Senior Advisor to President Biden and Implementation Coordinator of the American Rescue Plan. Early life and education Sperling was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the son of Doris Louise (née Hyman) and Lawrence Sperling. He is of Jewish descent. He attended Pioneer High School and then Community High School from which he graduated. In 1982, he graduated with a B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota where he was captain of the Men's Varsity Tennis Team. In 1985 he graduated with a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School where he served as a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. While at Yale Law School, he worked for future Labor Secretary Robert Reich. After graduating from Yale Law School, he attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an economic adviser on Michael Dukakis' campaign. Prior to joining the National Economic Council, Sperling served as deputy director of economic policy for the presidential transition and economic policy director of the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. From 1990 to 1992, he was an economic advisor to Governor Mario Cuomo of New York. Career Clinton administration Sperling served as deputy director (from 1993 to 1996) and then director (from 1996 to 2001) of the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration. As deputy director from 1993 to 1996, Sperling helped design and pass several of President Clinton's early initiatives, including 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, the major expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Direct Student Loan Act. As director from 1996 to 2001, Sperling was a principal negotiator of the 1997 bipartisan Balanced Budget Act, which included the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program. He reportedly held up the final negotiation to ensure that the design of