The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government,especially with regard to the president,senior aides and executives,as well as government policies.
Joseph Patrick Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant,best known for being the 21st White House Press Secretary from October 5,1998 to September 29,2000,during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton. Previously,he had worked as press secretary for several Democratic politicians,including Walter Mondale,Paul Simon,and Michael Dukakis. Following his work as press secretary in the Clinton administration,he was an advisor to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign. He subsequently founded and became managing director of the communications consulting firm The Glover Park Group,worked for Facebook from 2011 to 2012,and was executive vice president of communications and public affairs for the NFL from 2016 to 2018.
Ronald Alan Klain is an American attorney,political consultant,and former lobbyist who served as White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023.
Claire Shipman is an American television journalist,formerly the senior national correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America. She is married to Jay Carney,President Barack Obama's former White House Press Secretary. She is also Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University. Shipman served as Chair of Columbia's Board of Trustees during the 2024 Pro-Palestine Protests and oversaw the deployment of NYPD onto campus which resulted in the arrest,suspension,eviction,and sanctioning of hundreds of students,alongside her co-chair David Greenwald and President Minouche Shafik.
Counselor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States and senior members of the White House Office.
Jacob Joseph Lew is an American attorney and diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Israel. He was the seventy-sixth United States secretary of the treasury from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party,he also served as the twenty-fifth White House chief of staff from 2012 to 2013 and as director of the Office of Management and Budget in both the Clinton administration and Obama administration.
Stephanie Cutter is an American political consultant. She served as an advisor to President Barack Obama during his first presidential term,and was deputy campaign manager for his 2012 re-election campaign. She previously worked in campaign and communications roles for other prominent Democrats including Ted Kennedy,John Kerry,and Michelle Obama. The New York Times described her as "a popular but polarizing face of (Obama's) campaign",and a "soldier who says the things the candidate can’t say."
Bruce Reed is an American political advisor and non-profit administrator who was the president of the Broad Foundation. Prior to assuming that role in December 2013,he served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and as CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). On December 22,2020,it was announced that Reed would serve as a White House deputy chief of staff in the Biden administration,along with Jen O'Malley Dillon.
Robert Lane Gibbs is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 2009 to 2011.
The presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4,2008,and became the president-elect. Obama was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15,2008. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 8,2009,and the transition ended when Obama was inaugurated at noon EST on January 20,2009.
Mona K. Sutphen was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. She is currently a partner and Head of Investment Strategies at The Vistria Group,a Chicago-based private equity firm founded by Marty Nesbitt and Kip Kirkpatrick. From 2013 to 2019,she was a partner in Macro Advisory Partners LLP and from 2011 to 2013 was a managing director at UBS AG,covering geopolitical risk,macro-policy trends and their impact on the global economy. She held a diplomatic position in the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration.
Thomas Edward Donilon is an American lawyer,business executive,and former government official who served as the 22nd National Security Advisor in the Obama administration from 2010 to 2013. Donilon also worked in the Carter and Clinton administrations,including as chief of staff of the U.S. State Department. He is now Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute,the firm's global think tank.
The White House staff position of liaison to the American Jewish community is a role charged with serving as a presidential administration's voice to the community and gathering the community's consensus viewpoint on issues affecting it for the benefit of White House policymakers. It has existed at least as early as the Carter Administration.
Barack Obama assumed office as President of the United States on January 20,2009,and his term ended on January 20,2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations,she served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009);the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011);the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015);and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020. As of March 2023,she hosts the talk-show Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC.
On April 4,2011,Barack Obama,the 44th president of the United States,announced his candidacy for re-election as president. On September 5,2012,he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2012 presidential election. Along with his running mate,Vice President Joe Biden,Obama was opposed in the general election by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,along with various minor candidates from other parties. The election took place on Tuesday,November 6,2012.
Situation Room is a photograph taken by Pete Souza,Chief Official White House Photographer,at 4:05 p.m. on May 1,2011. The photograph shows U.S. president Barack Obama and his national security team in the White House Situation Room receiving live updates from Operation Neptune Spear,which led to the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad,Pakistan.
Joshua Ryan Henry Earnest is an American political advisor who served as White House press secretary under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017. He was Obama's third Press Secretary and the 29th to hold the position. He succeeded Jay Carney as Obama's press secretary,in 2014,and was succeeded by President Donald Trump's first presidential press secretary,Sean Spicer. He is Executive Vice President of Communications and Advertising for United Airlines.
Eric Schultz is an American political advisor who served as Deputy White House Press Secretary in the Obama Administration from 2014 to 2017. Recognized by Politico as the strategist "White House officials turn to in a crisis to handle communications",Schultz was originally hired at the White House in 2011 to respond to congressional oversight investigations.
