Hailing from Philadelphia, Feldman was a trained lawyer and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, which he attended on a scholarship.

He served in the Army Air Force during the Second World War prior to joining Kennedy's campaign trail in 1957.

"[2] Upon Kennedy's assassination, Johnson retained Feldman for similar tasks against election rival Barry Goldwater.

After retiring from government service in 1965, Feldman founded a law firm that dealt with legal issues in radio, and chaired committees on the Special Olympics.

In this role, he created the "President's Council on Mental Retardation" and was key to the event's early organisation.

He worked briefly for a roofing company before winning a scholarship to the Wharton School of Finance at University of Pennsylvania.

[5] Kennedy "gleefully assigned the city boy to agricultural issues"[2] and often greeted Feldman with "Mike, how are the crops?".

A 1962 New York Times articles rated him as highly integral to the running of the Presidency, citing that his low license-plate number, 116, was the lowest at the White House and therefore a sign of his importance.

"[2] Following the Kennedy Assassination on November 22, 1963 and the subsequent swearing in of Lyndon Johnson as President of the United States, Feldman was retained in the cabinet as a general advisor.

[5] The firm grew to have over 100 lawyers in its employ, and was financially successful working with radio stations and real estate in Washington throughout the 1970s.