He endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008 after Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee, picked Sarah Palin, then the governor of Alaska, as his running mate. In an interview with NBC at the time, Mr. Duberstein questioned both Ms. Palin’s qualifications and Mr. McCain’s judgment, saying Ms. Palin had been offered the job after just one interview.
“Even at McDonald’s, you’re interviewed three times before you’re given the job,” he said.
Republicans and Democrats alike paid tribute to Mr. Duberstein after his death. Caroline Kennedy, who worked closely with him when Mr. Duberstein chaired a senior advisory committee for the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, called him a “constant and inspiring presence” to students.
“America has lost a great patriot,” said James A. Baker III, one of Mr. Duberstein’s predecessors as White House chief of staff and later Reagan’s Treasury secretary.
Kenneth Marc Duberstein was born on April 21, 1944, the son of Aaron Duberstein, a fund-raiser for the Boy Scouts of America, and Jewel (Falb) Duberstein, a homemaker. He grew up loving New York hot dogs and Broadway shows, often paying for standing-room-only tickets, said his wife, Jacquelyn Fain Duberstein. In his later years he became a trustee for the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington.
After high school at the private Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, he attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., graduating in 1965. He obtained a master’s degree in political science at American University in Washington the following year. There, he had his first taste of Capitol politics — as an intern for Senator Jacob Javits, Republican of New York.
“He would get in the car with Javits and drive him in order to have some time with Javits alone,” his wife said. “That’s how his love for government started.”
In addition to his wife, Mr. Duberstein is survived by four children, Jennifer, Jeffrey, Andrew and Samantha Duberstein; and two grandchildren. He was divorced from his first wife, Marjorie Duberstein, and from his second, Sydney Duberstein, who died earlier.