White House Communications Director

The White House Director of Communications, also known as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the President of the United States, and is responsible for developing and promoting the agenda of the President and leading its media campaign. The director, along with his or her staff, works on speeches such as the inaugural address and the State of the Union Address. The Communications Director is usually given an office in the West Wing of the White House.

The current Director of Communications is Jen Psaki,^[1] who succeeded Jennifer Palmieri in April 2015.

History

The White House Office of Communications was established by Herbert G. Klein in 1969 during the Nixon administration.^[2] It was separate from the Office of the Press Secretary from 1969 to 1974.^[3]

Role

Historically, the position of White House Communications Director is given to a senior public relations staff member of the candidate's campaign staff. Often this is either the Deputy Campaign Manager or the Campaign Communications Director. The Communications Director works closely with the White House Press Secretary, who was typically a co-worker in the president's campaign. For instance, during the 1992 Clinton Presidential Campaign, George Stephanopoulos was Deputy Campaign Manager, who became the Communications Director after Clinton's election.

Responsibilities

As the President's voice and vision must be clear, the Communications Director ensures that all aspects of communications are covered to ensure that the administration's message has been delivered successfully. A communications strategy must be devised to promote the President's agenda throughout all media outlets. This can include, but certainly is not limited to, the State of the Union address, televised press conferences, statements to the press, and radio addresses. The communications office also works closely with cabinet-level departments and other executive agencies in order to create a coherent strategy through which the President's message can be disseminated.

With the growing importance of the internet and new media in terms of Presidential communication, the Office of Communications is having to branch out, and this has been given an added impetus by the election of Barack Obama who made large use of the internet, and more specifically social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach out to his supporters in order to solicit donations and spread his campaign message.

Key staff

• Assistant to the President for Communications and White House Communications Director: Jen Psaki
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications: Amy Brundage^[4]
    • Special Assistant to the President and Director of Broadcast Media: Dagoberto Vega^[4]
    • Special Assistant to the President and Director of Progressive Media and Online Response: Jesse Lee^[4]
    • Director of Specialty Media: Shin Inouye^[4]
    • Director of Hispanic Media: Katherine Vargas^[4]
    • Director of African American Media: Addie Whisenant^[4]
  • Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting: Cody Keenan^[4]

Directors

Officeholder	Term start	Term end	President
Herb Klein	January 20, 1969	July 1, 1973[5]	Richard Nixon
Ken Clawson	January 30, 1974	November 4, 1974
			Gerald Ford
Jerry Warren	November 4, 1974[6]	August 15, 1975
Margita White	August 15, 1975	July 1976
David Gergen	July 1976[7]	January 20, 1977
Gerald Rafshoon	July 1, 1978	August 14, 1979	Jimmy Carter
Frank Ursomarso	February 23, 1981[8]	June 17, 1981	Ronald Reagan
David Gergen	June 17, 1981[9]	January 15, 1984
Michael McManus Acting	January 15, 1984[6]	February 6, 1985
Pat Buchanan	February 6, 1985	March 1, 1987
Jack Koehler	March 1, 1987	March 13, 1987[10]
Tom Griscom	April 2, 1987	July 1, 1988
Mari Maseng	July 1, 1988	January 20, 1989
David Demarest	January 20, 1989	August 23, 1992	George H. W. Bush
Margaret Tutwiler	August 23, 1992[11]	January 20, 1993
George Stephanopoulos	January 20, 1993	June 7, 1993	Bill Clinton
Mark Gearan	June 7, 1993[12]	August 14, 1995
Don Baer	August 14, 1995	July 31, 1997
Ann Lewis	July 31, 1997	March 10, 1999
Loretta Ucelli	March 10, 1999	January 20, 2001
Karen Hughes	January 20, 2001	October 2, 2001	George W. Bush
Dan Bartlett	October 2, 2001[13]	January 5, 2005
Nicolle Wallace	January 5, 2005	July 24, 2006
Kevin Sullivan	July 24, 2006	January 20, 2009
Ellen Moran	January 20, 2009	April 21, 2009	Barack Obama
Anita Dunn	April 21, 2009	November 30, 2009
Dan Pfeiffer	November 30, 2009	January 25, 2013
Jennifer Palmieri	January 25, 2013	April 1, 2015
Jen Psaki	April 1, 2015	present

References

1. "Jen Psaki returns to White House". Politico. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
2. "White House Unit Takes on New Life", The Washington Post, Nov. 26, 1973, p. 9.
3. "Press Operations in White House Revised, With Politics Ruled Out", The New York Times, August 17, 1974, p. 15.
4. "2014 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff". WhiteHouse.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
5. Letter Accepting the Resignation of Herbert G. Klein as Director of Communications for the Executive Branch
6. Managing the President's Message: The White House Communications Operation
7. DAVID R. GERGEN FILES, 1974-77
8. URSOMARSO, FRANK: Files, 1981 (3.1 l.ft.; Box 1-8)
9. Key Administration Officials
10. Letter Accepting the Resignation of John O. Koehler as Assistant to the President and Director of Communications
11. Appointment of Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler as Assistant to the President for Communications
12. Press Briefing by David Gergen and Mark Gearan
13. Statement by the Press Secretary: Bartlett Named White House Communications Director