WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- Former national security adviser Sandy Berger, who helped craft President Bill Clinton's foreign policy and got in trouble over destroying classified documents, died Wednesday at age 70.
The cause of death was cancer, said a statement by his consulting firm, the Albright Stonebridge Group.
In this April 1, 2005 file photo, Sandy Berger, who was President Clinton's top national security aide, leaves the U.S. District Court House in Washington. A spokesman for his firm says that Berger, who helped craft President Bill Clinton’s second term foreign policy and got in trouble over mishandling classified documents, died Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
Berger was White House national security adviser from 1997 to 2001, including a period when the Clinton administration carried out airstrikes in Kosovo and against Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq. Berger was also deeply involved in the administration's push for free trade.
He was deputy national security adviser during Clinton's first term.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, took to Twitter on Wednesday to express his grief.
"V sad start to day; just learned Sandy Berger passed away during the night. Good man & friend who served nation well as bill clinton's NSA," Haass said.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also served on Clinton's national security team, did the same.
"Mourn the passing of Sandy Berger --- father, husband, mentor, friend, leader and great patriot. RIP SRB," Blinken tweeted.
In 2005, Berger pleaded guilty to illegally removing classified documents from the National Archives by stuffing some documents down his pants. He cut up some of the documents with scissors, for reasons that remain unclear. He was sentenced to probation and a $50,000 fine. He expressed regret for his actions.
Out of government, he helped found an international consulting firm that in 2009 merged with one run by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
"He cared deeply about where this country was going what we could do to solve problems," Albright said in a telephone interview. "That was the basis of his life, was to make a difference."
Berger is survived by his wife, Susan, along with three children and five grandchildren, Albright said.
