Lawrence Kudlow

The life of a 1970s protester didn't appeal to Kudlow after he graduated, however, and he moved to Princeton University to study politics and some economics at the Woodrow Wilson School. But he never obtained his master's, and left Princeton a couple papers short of earning the degree, he said.

Bear Stearns and OMB

Kudlow started his professional career at the New York Federal Reserve as a junior economist, where he stayed for a year before jumping to Wall Street.

He joined Paine Webber as a chief economist. In 1982, Kudlow moved to Bear Stearns as its chief economist. Bear Stearns was a private company at the time with about 1,000 employees. But Kudlow had a rolodex containing such political power players as Reagan Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Dave Stockman and Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) to visit the firm, which prompted the higher-ups to offer Kudlow a partner position. He declined the offer and instead chose to become the number-two man behind Stockman at the OMB.

After witnessing an end to the recession starting in 1980, when Reagan's tax cuts seemed to help stimulate growth, Kudlow left the OMB late that same year and started consulting. In 1985, he rejoined Bear Stearns as a chief economist, and shortly afterwards became senior managing director. But it was no longer a private, boutique investment firm, instead employing 7,000 people including 200 senior managing directors.

Still Kudlow shined, attracting high-profile clients and correctly predicting a recessionary dip in 1990 and 1991. He had to travel constantly, wooing prospective customers, and it all caught up to him in 1992, when he took a leave of absence to attend a drug and alcohol treatment program.

When Kudlow returned to the investment bank, he continued as if nothing happened. Performing well, he even helped design an economic recovery plan for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Christine Todd Whitman (R). She upset incumbent Gov. Jim Florio (D) in the 1993 race, and Kudlow stood next to Whitman as she gave an acceptance speech.

But in early 1994, Bear Stearns asked for Kudlow's resignation after he failed to show up at an investor event where he was the featured speaker. Many suspected he had relapsed into addiction. In 1995, Kudlow's third wife, Judith, went to court to freeze the couple's retirement account because she alleged that her husband was tapping it to fuel a cocaine binge. Kudlow admitted himself into a substance abuse program in Minnesota, staying there for six months. He succeeded in the substance abuse battle, and says he has been clean for 14 years now.

Comeback

After rehab, Kudlow nabbed a position at Laffer Associates in San Diego. He had worked with the owner of Laffer, economist Arthur Laffer during his time in the Reagan administration. The conservative economist was the only person who would give him a job after Kudlow's very public battle with drugs and alcohol.

In 1997, Kudlow moved to Connecticut to work as chief economist at the insurance firm American Skandia, and three years later he joined ING Barings as its chief investment specialist and economist before working as a private consultant.

Throughout his career, Kudlow had always accepted invitations to serve as a guest commentator on television, and in 2002, he was offered the chance to host his own show on CNBC. Kudlow and Jim Cramer gave financial advice to the audience on the nightly program "Kudlow & Cramer." When Cramer left to host his own nightly CNBC show in 2005, Kudlow got to do the same, hosting "Kudlow & Company" - which airs nightly and was renamed the "Kudlow Report." He also hosts the daily CNBC show, "The Call," and owns his own economic and investment research firm in New York called Kudlow & Co.

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