David Gergen, ex-adviser to Republican and Democratic presidents, dies aged 83

Serving Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, Gergen was a speechwriter and communications director

David Gergen, a veteran of Washington politics and an adviser to four presidents, Republican and Democrat, in a career spanning decades in government, academia and media, has died. He was 83.

Gergen was perhaps best known for a line he summoned for then presidential candidate Ronald Reagan for a TV debate with Jimmy Carter: Are you better off than you were four years ago?"