Editing Elliott Abrams (section)

== Background ==
Elliott Abrams was born into a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgRQAsk0CK4C&q=abrams|first=Gerald|last=Sorin|title=Tradition Transformed: The Jewish Experience in America (The American Moment)|pages=219|date=March 11, 1997|publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5446-0}}</ref> in New York in 1948. His father was an immigration lawyer. Abrams attended the [[Little Red School House]] in New York City, a private high school whose students at the time included the children of many of the city's notable left-wing activists and artists.<ref name="little red">{{cite news |title=Book Review: 'Little Red' by Dina Hampton |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/04/24/book-review-little-red-dina-hampton/HODx8JqbH7F3COsbr5D25I/story.html |newspaper=Boston Globe |first=James |last=Sullivan |date=April 24, 2013}}</ref> Abrams' parents were [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]].<ref name="little red" /> His first cousin is attorney [[Floyd Abrams]].<ref>{{Cite news|first=Rebecca |last=Dana |author-link= |title=The Abrams Family |newspaper=[[The New York Observer]]|date=December 6, 2016 |url= https://observer.com/2006/12/the-abrams-family/ |access-date=}}</ref>

Abrams received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] from [[Harvard College]] in 1969, a [[Master of Science]] in [[international relations]] from the [[London School of Economics]] in 1970, and his [[Juris Doctor]] from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 28, 2024 |title=Elliott Abrams, Commissioner {{!}} USCIRF |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/elliott-abrams-commissioner |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=www.uscirf.gov |language=en}}</ref> He practiced law in [[New York (state)|New York]] in the summers for his father, and then at [[Breed, Abbott & Morgan]] from 1973 to 1975 and with [[DLA Piper#Piper Rudnick and American predecessor firms|Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand]] from 1979 to 1981.

Abrams worked as an assistant counsel on the [[Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]] in 1975, then worked as a staffer on Senator [[Henry "Scoop" Jackson]]'s brief campaign for the 1976 [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] presidential nomination. From 1977 through 1979, he served as special counsel and ultimately as chief of staff for the then-new senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan|Daniel Moynihan]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807848579/our-own-backyard|title=Our Own Backyard|last=Leogrande|first=William M.|website=University of North Carolina Press|page=444|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-15}}</ref>

Dissatisfaction with [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter]]'s foreign policy led Abrams to campaign for [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/elliott-abrams/|title=Elliott Abrams on Conversations with Bill Kristol|access-date=12 April 2018}}</ref>