Brian Tierney - Early Life

Early Life

Brian Tierney is the fourth of five sons of James and Claire Tierney. Growing up in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, he attended Waldron Mercy Academy and later The Episcopal Academy. When he was seven, his family moved to Springfield Township, Pennsylvania. In 1975, at the age of eighteen, Tierney unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for township commissioner of Springfield. During the campaign supporters of his opponent in the Democratic primary had torn down his campaign posters and stole other campaign items. Tierney became a Republican after the primary when a few Republicans who said they would look out for his stuff during his primary campaign, invited him to a party meeting.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, majoring in political science. At the University of Pennsylvania, Tierney ran the Penn Students for Gerald Ford campaign, and, at the age of twenty-two, moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked for the Republican National Committee in various positions, including as a messenger between Ronald Reagan's administration and Republican candidates across the country. Tierney moved back to the Philadelphia region as a Reagan appointee in the U.S. Small Business Administration's public affairs office. In 1987, he received a law degree from Widener University. Tierney married in 1980 and has two children.