Happy Birthday B Rapoport!
It’s not every day that someone hits the big 9-0, and when the said person is one of the highest rolling (and most loved) Democratic donors, the pols turn out in droves.
Bernard Rapoport, a nice Jewish boy from Waco, Texas who grew up to earn a fortune in the insurance business, was feted at the Washington, D.C. home of Jay and Sharon Rockefeller last night.
Attendees reportedly included a high percentage of the members of Congress, including Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Frank Lautenberg and Democratic defector Joe Lieberman. (“I was surprised he showed up,” one insider who attended told the Forward.)
Also on hand were former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and DNC chair Howard Dean. Bill Clinton sent in a video tribute and Senator Ted Kennedy spoke.
Rapoport – known for his sense of humor and lack of pretension – was reportedly in good form, despite the fact that his arm was in a sling due to a shoulder injury sustained playing tennis. That’s right, tennis at 90.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
