[3] Before that, Clemons was Washington editor-at-large of The Atlantic and editor-in-chief of AtlanticLIVE, the magazine's live events series.

[7] Clemons also published a political blog, The Washington Note, through April 2015[8] and was previously CEO of the multi-arts platform The BeBop Channel.

[13] Clemons is the former executive vice president of Economic Strategy Institute, former executive director of the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom (now the Center for the National Interest), and served as Senator Jeff Bingaman's Senior Policy Advisor on Economic and International Affairs.

Earlier in his career, Clemons was the executive director of the Japan America Society of Southern California from 1987 to 1994.

[15] In 1993, Clemons was the technical advisor for the film Rising Sun, which starred Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.