White House Press Secretary

Last updated

White House Press Secretary
US-WhiteHouse-Logo.svg
Logo of the White House.
Karine Jean-Pierre 2021.jpg
Incumbent
Karine Jean-Pierre
since May 13, 2022
White House Office of the Press Secretary
Appointer President of the United States
FormationMarch 4, 1929;94 years ago (1929-03-04)
First holder George Akerson
Salary$180,000 USD (2021) [1]
Website www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/ OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

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.

Contents

The press secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and issues the administration's reactions to developments around the world. The press secretary interacts with the media and the White House press corps on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing. The press secretary serves by the appointment and at the pleasure of the president of the United States; the office does not require the advice and consent of the United States Senate; however, because of the frequent briefings given to the global media, who in turn inform the public, the position is a prominent non-Cabinet post.

On May 13, 2022, Karine Jean-Pierre replaced Jen Psaki and became the 35th White House press secretary. [2]

History

Early press relations

In August 2006, President George W. Bush hosted seven White House press secretaries before the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room underwent renovation. From left, Joe Lockhart, Dee Dee Myers, Marlin Fitzwater, Bush, Tony Snow, Ron Nessen, and James Brady (seated) with his wife Sarah Brady. SevenWhiteHousePressSecretaries.jpg
In August 2006, President George W. Bush hosted seven White House press secretaries before the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room underwent renovation. From left, Joe Lockhart, Dee Dee Myers, Marlin Fitzwater, Bush, Tony Snow, Ron Nessen, and James Brady (seated) with his wife Sarah Brady.

During the United States' early years, there was not a single designated staff person or office responsible for managing the relationship between the president and the growing number of journalists and media entities that were covering him. [3] :3 It was not until after President Abraham Lincoln's administration that Congress formally appropriated funds for a White House staff, which at first consisted merely of a secretary. Ulysses S. Grant's White House staff officially numbered six people at a cost of $13,800, though he supplemented with personnel from the War Department. Fifty years later under the Coolidge administration, the staff had increased to just fewer than fifty people at a cost of nearly $100,000. [3] :3

As presidents increasingly hired more staff, some showed a tendency to pick aides and confidantes who had backgrounds in the field of journalism. [3] :3 One of Abraham Lincoln's private secretaries, John G. Nicolay, had been an editor and owner of a newspaper in Illinois before he worked for the president in the White House. [3] :4 While the modern equivalent of a private or personal secretary to the president of the United States would be more narrowly concerned with the care and feeding of the president, [4] the small size of the White House staff at that point meant that Nicolay interacted with the press occasionally in carrying out his duties. [3] :4 He was occasionally asked to verify stories or information that various members of the press had heard. [3] :4 Though the title and establishment of the roles and responsibilities of the press secretary job was still decades in the future, the small and growing White House staff was increasingly interacting with a growing number of professional journalists and mass media entities covering the president and the White House. [3] :4 Andrew Johnson was the first president to grant a formal interview request to a reporter, sitting down with Col. Alexander K. McClure from Pennsylvania. [3] :7 Although various presidents and reporters had participated in conversations or dialogues prior to Johnson, the exchanges had been less formal. [3] :6

Cleveland and McKinley administrations

Prior to the 1880s and the presidency of Grover Cleveland, the relationship between the president, his administration, and the small but growing number of newspapers covering him was such that there was little need for a formal plan or designated spokesperson to manage it. [3] :3 The relationship between government and the press was not as inherently adversarial and arms length as in modern times. In fact, prior to the establishment of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), some newspapers were awarded contracts to print government publications and often supported the president in exchange. [3] :3 For example, the Gazette of the United States won an early U.S. Treasury contract and was supportive of then-president Washington. [3] :7 In general, though coverage of the president could be harsh and opinionated, newspapers were to some degree extensions of the political party apparatus and subsequently not seen as entities requiring specific, sustained management by the White House or administration.

The media had changed significantly by 1884, when Grover Cleveland was elected as president of the United States. Between 1776 and 1884, the United States had quadrupled in size and increased in population from 2.5 million to 56 million. [3] :7 The number of newspaper publications in active circulation had increased from 37 to more than 1,200 dailies, in addition to the many new monthly magazines. [3] :7 The rapid growth in journalism as a booming industry resulted in an increase in reporters covering the activities of the president. [3] :8

Grover Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom in 1886. The growing number of reporters and the increasing aggressiveness of their style of coverage led to frustrations when the president and his new bride were unable to rid themselves of reporters who followed them to their honeymoon in Deer Park, Maryland. [3] :8 President Cleveland relied on his private secretary, Daniel Lamont, who had once been an editor of the Albany Argus, to keep the reporters at bay. [3] :8 The controversy surrounding coverage of the trip resulted in a public debate about the balance between the right of the president and his family to privacy and the role of the press in covering the country's most public figure. [3] :9 In an editorial, the New York World defended the right of the press to cover the president at all times:

The idea of offending the bachelor sensitiveness of President Cleveland or the maidenly reserve of his bride has been far from anybody's thought...We must insist that the President is public property; that it is perfectly legitimate to send correspondents and reporters to follow him when he goes on a journey, and to keep watch over him and his family. [3] :9

White House press corps

At the end of the Cleveland administration, a new feature of press coverage of the White House materialized. William W. Price, a southern reporter, auditioned for a job at the Washington Evening Star by stationing himself at the White House to seek out stories. [3] :11 He interviewed guests coming and going from meetings or events with the president and ultimately reported a story in a piece carrying the headline "At the White House". [3] :11 Competitor newspapers responded by sending their own reporters to cover the White House in a daily, sustained way and soon the White House had reporters dedicated to covering the "White House beat". Some point to this as the early origins of a more formal White House Press Corps. [3] :11

When President Cleveland was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in 1893, George B. Cortelyou, formally trained as a stenographer, was named confidential stenographer at the White House and later named executive clerk. [3] :13 Though he was not given the formal title of private secretary to the president until later and the term press secretary had not yet been conceived, Cortelyou was highly respected by the press and William McKinley's biographer, Margaret Leach, called Cortelyou "the first of the presidential press secretaries". [3] :13 President Cleveland's successor, William McKinley, kept Cortelyou on during the transition and later formally named him private secretary to the president, though he had been informally doing the job for some time prior. [3] :14 Under McKinley, Cortelyou became notable for his popularity with journalists covering the White House. [3] :16 The correspondents relied on him for information and his tenure as private secretary was noteworthy for some of the same working traits modern press secretaries have become popular for, [5] including providing information to reporters later in the evening if events had transpired in the afternoon, offering advance copies of remarks prepared for the president, and ensuring reporters received transcripts of unprepared remarks made by the president while traveling, which were recorded by a stenographer. [3] :16 Cortelyou also circulated noteworthy stories to the president and other staffers (by this point the White House staff numbered approximately 18), [3] :14 which is similar to the exhaustive news summaries formally distributed to the White House staff in the modern era. [6] The nascent press corps' appreciation for Cortelyou's responsiveness is similar to how a modern White House press secretary's responsiveness to the press corps can shape their positive or negative view of him or her. [7]

Working space in the White House for the press corps

The White House "beat" concept that had been started during the Cleveland administration by reporter William Price was continued during the McKinley administration. [3] :14 Around the time of the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the reporters covering the White House were invited into the mansion itself and provided with space to write, conduct interviews, and generally cover the White House. [3] :14 Now reporting from inside the White House, the reporters used their new location to interview guests entering or leaving the White House or confirm pieces of information from the president's secretaries as they passed through in the course of their duties. Reporters working in the White House did, however, honor an unspoken rule and refrain from asking the president himself a question if he happened to walk through their working area. [3] :14

The long-term presence of the White House Press Corps in the White House was cemented by Theodore Roosevelt, who asked that planners include permanent space for the press corps in the executive office building now called the West Wing, which he had ordered built in the early 1900s. [3] :18 It is the West Wing that ultimately housed the Office of the Press Secretary [8] and the now-famous James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, which was renovated by the George W. Bush administration in 2007. [9]

Woodrow Wilson administration

When Woodrow Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910, he asked Joseph P. Tumulty to serve as his private secretary. [3] :25 When he was elected president two years later, he brought Tumulty with him to the White House, where Tumulty served as private secretary to the president. [3] :25 As private secretary, Tumulty dealt extensively with the press. [3] :27 At the outset of the administration, Tumulty convinced Wilson, who was known for his distaste of the press, [3] :25 to hold news conferences on a regularized schedule, sometimes as much as twice every week. [3] :29 During the first such news conference, over one hundred reporters crowded into Wilson's office to ask him questions. [3] :31 Wilson often requested that reporters not publish answers given in these settings and on one occasion threatened to cancel the news conferences when a reporter revealed comments he had given regarding Mexico. [3] :31 The press conferences were later discontinued after the sinking of British liner Lusitania, and despite attempts to revive them during his second term were held only sporadically during Wilson's final years in office. [3] :31–32

Joseph Tumulty also put into place a more regular schedule of briefing the press. [3] :31 He gave daily briefings to the press in the morning, which were attended by as many as thirty reporters. [3] :31 By formalizing the press briefing process, Tumulty laid the groundwork for what would later be called the White House Press Briefing. [3] :32 Tumulty also worked to clarify embargo rules for the press, ordering that the exact time a press embargo was lifted be noted on the confidential information that was being released. [3] :32

Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover administrations

Despite being nicknamed "Silent Cal", many reporters covering the White House found President Calvin Coolidge to be fairly accessible once he took office in 1923 following the death of President Warren G. Harding. [3] :42 During his over five years in office, Coolidge held approximately 520 press conferences, which averaged out to nearly 8 per month. [3] :42 The term "White House spokesman" was used extensively for the first time during the Coolidge administration, as press conference rules mandated that reporters could attribute quotes or statements only to a "White House spokesman" and not directly to the president himself. [3] :42 Former Associated Press editor W. Dale Nelson suggests that this practice was a precursor to the more modern use of "senior administration official" [10] offering statements or quotes not directly attributable to a specific person, which was used frequently by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon administration. [3] :43

When Herbert Hoover assumed the presidency in 1929, he brought his longtime aide George E. Akerson to Washington with him as his private secretary. [3] :47 Akerson did not have the formal title of "press secretary", but was the designated person to speak on behalf of President Hoover. [3] :47 Hoover asked the White House Correspondents Association to form a committee to discuss matters pertaining to coverage of the White House and formalized news conferences, dividing presidential news into three different categories:

George Akerson continued the tradition of meeting daily with reporters, and though usually of jovial temperament, was not known for the precision that was the hallmark of some of his predecessors, such as Cortelyou. [3] :53 On one occasion, he incorrectly stated that sitting Supreme Court justice Harlan Stone had been elevated to be chief justice, only to have to issue a statement later that the actual nominee was Charles Evans Hughes. [3] :53 Akerson also struggled at times with his role in a growing White House staff. [3] :53 Akerson was one of three secretaries to the president, and some speculated that Hoover's closeness to his other secretary, Lawrence Richey, a former detective and Secret Service agent, made it difficult for Akerson to obtain the kind of information he needed to effectively do his job. [3] :53 As poor coverage made President Hoover appear detached and out of touch amidst a worsening depression, Richey and Akerson disagreed about the most effective press strategy, with Akerson promoting the idea that Hoover should leverage the increasingly influential platform of radio, and Richey arguing that the radio strategy was not worthy of the presidency. [3] :55 Akerson resigned not long thereafter, and Theodore Joslin, a former reporter, was named as the new secretary. [3] :55 Relations between the Hoover administration and the press continued to decline. [3] :65

Roosevelt administration, Steve Early, and the first "White House press secretary"

During the administration of presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, journalist Stephen Early became the first White House secretary charged only with press responsibilities. The manner in which Early approached his portfolio and increasingly high-profile nature of the job have led many to state that Early is the first true White House press secretary, both in function and in formal title. [3] :65 Prior to joining the Roosevelt campaign and administration Early had served as an editor to the military paper Stars and Stripes and also as a reporter for the Associated Press. [3] :67 When Roosevelt was nominated on James Cox's ticket as the vice presidential nominee in 1920, he asked Early to serve as an advance representative. As an advance representative, Early traveled ahead of the campaign, arranged for logistics and attempted to promote positive coverage for the candidates. [3] :67

When President Roosevelt won the presidency in 1932, he chose Early to be his secretary responsible for handling the press, or as the role was becoming known, "the press secretary". [3] :69 After accepting the job, Early laid out for Roosevelt his vision of how the role should be conducted. He requested having unfettered access to the president, having his quotes and statements directly attributable to him as press secretary, and offering as much factual information to the press as it became available. He also convinced Roosevelt to agree to twice-weekly presidential press conferences, with the timing of each tailored to the different deadline schedules of the White House Press Corps. Early also made himself available to the press corps as often as he could, and though he was not known for a lighthearted or amiable demeanor, he earned a reputation for responsiveness and openness, even having his own telephone number listed unlike some of those who held the job after him. [3] :69

Despite the unpopularity of press conferences by the end of the Hoover administration, Roosevelt continued the tradition. [3] :71 He did away with written questions submitted in advance and mandated that nothing he said in press conferences could be attributed to him or the White House, but was instead intended for reporters' general background information. [3] :71 Many reporters found this helpful as it allowed the president to be forthright and candid in his assessments and answers their questions. [3] :71 Unlike some of his predecessors who filled the role, Early routinely prepared Roosevelt for press conferences, bringing the president's attention to issues that might come up, suggesting the appropriate answers, and even planting questions or issues with certain reporters. [3] :72 Press conferences also began a tradition where the senior wire reporter concludes the session by stating, "Thank you, Mr. President", signaling that the time for questioning is over, [3] :72 a tradition that continues today. [11] Roosevelt held well over 300 press conferences during his first term. [3] :72

Though some reporters were unsatisfied with the amount of real news or new information they were getting from the press conferences, the Roosevelt administration under Early's leadership was considered by many to be effective at managing the White House's relationship with the press. [3] :74 During the administration, U.S. News reported that "The machinery for getting and giving the news runs about as smoothly as could be wished from either side." [3] :74

The Roosevelt White House was also marked by a significant increase in the number of White House staff supporting the president and bureaucracy in general, largely as a result of increased New Deal funding. [3] :74–75 Early was criticized at times for attempting to closely manage press officers at various department and agencies across the government, and gave out a number of such jobs to journalists who he knew, instead of party loyalists who had traditionally received such appointments. [3] :75 A congressional investigation several years later revealed that across government, fewer than 150 employees were engaged in public relations along with an additional 14 part-time workers. [3] :75 This is a significant increase given that White House staff numbered at 11 in total when Roosevelt took office. [3] :74

Early was involved in Roosevelt taking advantage of the radio medium through his fireside chats, an idea some say he got from George Akerson who had unsuccessfully tried to convince President Hoover to do something similar. [3] :77 Early also came under fire for the rules surrounding African American journalists not being allowed to attend presidential press conferences. [3] :78 Some have said that Early used enforcement of the standing rule, which had been to only allow regular Washington journalists to attend the press conferences, to deny press conference access to black reporters. [3] :78 Since many if not most black publications at the time were weeklies, they were restricted as a result of the rules. [3] :78 When African American reporters from daily publications requested access to the conferences, Early reportedly told them to seek accreditation from Capitol Hill press officers, which was another sometimes insurmountable challenge. [3] :78 African American reporters did not gain formal approval to attend White House news conferences until 1944. [3] :78

Early's tenure as press secretary was also marked by stringent restrictions on photographers, largely aimed at hiding the severity of FDR's polio and worsening immobility. [3] :80 Photographers were not permitted to be closer than 12 feet (3.7 m) of FDR, or 30 feet (9.1 m) in larger events. [3] :80

As a result of the increasingly high-profile nature of the job and Early's sole responsibility of managing the White House press operations, it was during the Roosevelt administration that Early and the position he held began to be formally referred to as the press secretary. [3] :66 As a result, many point to Steve Early as the first White House press secretary. [3] :66

Eisenhower administration, James Hagerty, press secretary role evolves

As a candidate for president, Dwight D. Eisenhower tapped James Hagerty, a former reporter for the New York Times, to be his press secretary. [12] Hagerty had previously been press secretary for New York governor Thomas E. Dewey during his two tries for the presidency. After he won election, Eisenhower appointed Hagerty to be White House press secretary.

Hagerty's experience as a journalist helped him perform his role more effectively: "Having spent years as a reporter on the other side of the news barrier, he was not blinded to the reporter's dependence on deadlines, transmission facilities, prompt texts of speeches and statements and the frequent necessity of having to ask seemingly irrelevant and inconsequential questions", wrote John McQuiston in the New York Times". [12]

At Hagerty's first meeting with White House reporters on January 21, 1953, he laid down ground rules that are still largely a model for how the press secretary operates. He said:

I would like to say to you fellows that I am not going to play any favorites, and I'm not going to give out any exclusive stories about the president or the White House.
When I say to you, 'I don't know,' I mean I don't know. When I say, 'No comment,' it means I'm not talking, but not necessarily any more than that.
Aside from that, I'm here to help you get the news. I am also here to work for one man, who happens to be the president. And I will do that to the best of my ability. [12]

The practice of regularly scheduled presidential news conference was instituted during the Eisenhower administration. Hagerty abolished the longstanding rule that the president could not be directly quoted without permission—for the first time, everything that the president said at a press conference could be printed verbatim.

In 1955, during the Eisenhower administration, newsreel and television cameras were allowed in presidential news conferences for the first time. [12]

When President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver in September 1955, and underwent abdominal surgery the following year, Hagerty brought news to the nation in a calm and professional manner. "His performances in both crises won him more respect from newsmen than any presidential press secretary in memory", said a New York Times writer. [12]

Hagerty remained press secretary for eight years, still the record for longest time served in that position. Eisenhower grew to trust Hagerty to such a degree that the role of press secretary was elevated to that of a senior advisor to the president.

Evaluations

Michael J. Towle weighs four factors determining the success and popularity of all seven press secretaries 1953 to 1980. Experts generally agree that James C. Hagerty, under Eisenhower, set the standard by which later press secretaries are judged. Under Carter, Jody Powell followed the Hagerty model, and was also judged successful. For Towle the first factor is the importance and centrality of the press secretary to the administration. Insiders who participate in high-level decision-making do better at explaining policy; the press has less confidence in outsiders, Towle concludes. The second factor is how tightly the office is controlled by the president. The media pays more attention to secretaries who are allowed to elaborate, and expound on the president's thoughts, and answer probing questions. Third, does the president signal confidence in the press secretary. Fourth is the respect the secretary has won from the press in terms of knowledge, credibility, clarity, promptness and ability to provide information on a wide range of policies. [13]

Towle concludes that history had judged Hagerty and Salinger as successful. Lyndon Johnson confided in Salinger but distrusted the media and hobbled his next three press secretaries. Nixon throughout his career saw the press as the enemy, and the media responded in hostile fashion, leaving the young inexperienced Ronald Ziegler with a hopeless challenge. President Ford's first secretary was Jerald F. terHorst – he resigned in protest when Ford pardoned Nixon. Next came Ronald Nessen, who quickly acquired a reputation as inept, uninformed or noncredible, especially on foreign affairs. At the opposite extreme, the successful Jody Powell had been a close advisor to Carter for years, and could explain clearly how the president reasoned about issues. Carter said he "probably knows me better than anyone except my wife." [13]

Responsibilities

Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to reporters outside the White House in 2019 Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Speaks to the Press (32522707307).jpg
Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to reporters outside the White House in 2019

The press secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and around the world, and interacting with the media, generally in a daily press briefing. The information includes items such as a summary of the president's schedule for the day, whom the president has seen, or had communication and the official position of the administration on the news of the day.

The press secretary traditionally also fields questions from the White House press corps in briefings and press conferences, which are generally televised, and "press gaggles", which are on-the-record briefings without video recording, although transcripts are usually made available.

The position has often been filled by individuals from news media backgrounds:

List of press secretaries

ImageNameStartEndDurationPresident
George Akerson.jpg George Akerson March 4, 1929March 16, 19312 years, 12 days Herbert Hoover
Ted Joslin.jpg Ted Joslin March 16, 1931March 4, 19331 year, 353 days
Portrait of Stephen T. Early.jpg Stephen Early March 4, 1933March 29, 194512 years, 25 days Franklin D. Roosevelt
No image.svg Jonathan Daniels March 29, 1945May 15, 194547 days
Harry S. Truman
Charles Griffith Ross.jpg Charlie Ross May 15, 1945December 5, 19505 years, 204 days
Portrait of Stephen T. Early.jpg Stephen Early
Acting
December 5, 1950December 18, 195013 days
Joseph Short (Profile) on March 15, 1951 at President Truman's vacation residence in Key West, Florida with Press Secretary Joseph Short... - NARA - 200561 (cropped).tif Joseph Short December 18, 1950September 18, 19521 year, 288 days
Roger Tubby 1951.jpg Roger Tubby September 18, 1952January 20, 1953124 days
James Campbell Hagerty on December 6, 1960 - JFKWHP-AR6180-A (cropped).jpg James Hagerty January 20, 1953January 20, 19618 years, 0 days Dwight D. Eisenhower
Press Secretary Pierre Salinger on May 10, 1961 - (14190800322) (cropped).jpg Pierre Salinger January 20, 1961March 19, 19643 years, 59 days John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
No image.svg George Reedy March 19, 1964July 8, 19651 year, 111 days
Bill Moyers.jpg Bill Moyers July 8, 1965February 1, 19671 year, 208 days
George Christian (cropped).tif George Christian February 1, 1967January 20, 19691 year, 354 days
Ronz.jpg Ron Ziegler January 20, 1969August 9, 19745 years, 201 days Richard Nixon
Jerald terHorst.jpg Jerald terHorst August 9, 1974September 9, 197431 days Gerald Ford
Ron Nessen 1975 (cropped).jpg Ron Nessen September 9, 1974January 20, 19772 years, 133 days
Jody Powell.jpg Jody Powell January 20, 1977January 20, 19814 years, 0 days Jimmy Carter
Portraits of Assistants to President Ronald Reagan (cropped4).jpg Jim Brady [lower-alpha 1] January 20, 1981March 30, 1981
(de facto)
January 20, 1989
( de jure )
69 days/
8 years, 0 days
Ronald Reagan
Portraits of Assistants to President Ronald Reagan (cropped5).jpg Larry Speakes [lower-alpha 1]
Acting
March 30, 1981February 1, 19875 years, 308 days
Marlin Fitzwater.jpg Marlin Fitzwater [lower-alpha 1] February 1, 1987
Acting: February 1, 1987 – January 20, 1989
January 20, 19935 years, 354 days
George H. W. Bush
Dee Dee Myers press secretary Bill Clinton (48592037267).jpg Dee Dee Myers January 20, 1993December 22, 19941 year, 336 days Bill Clinton
George Stephanopoulos cropped.jpg George Stephanopoulos [lower-alpha 2]
De facto
January 20, 1993June 7, 1993138 days
Mike McCurry.jpg Mike McCurry December 22, 1994August 4, 19983 years, 225 days
Joe Lockhart.jpg Joe Lockhart August 4, 1998September 29, 20002 years, 56 days
Jake Siewert.jpg Jake Siewert September 30, 2000January 20, 2001112 days
Ari Fleischer.jpg Ari Fleischer January 20, 2001July 15, 20032 years, 176 days George W. Bush
Scott McClellan 1.jpg Scott McClellan July 15, 2003May 10, 20062 years, 299 days
Tony Snow -- White House.jpg Tony Snow May 10, 2006September 14, 20071 year, 127 days
Dana Perino 1.jpg Dana Perino September 14, 2007January 20, 20091 year, 128 days
Robert Gibbs.jpg Robert Gibbs January 20, 2009February 11, 20112 years, 22 days Barack Obama
Jay Carney on April 5, 2011.jpg Jay Carney February 11, 2011June 20, 20143 years, 129 days
Josh Earnest 2011 (cropped).jpg Josh Earnest June 20, 2014January 20, 20172 years, 214 days
Press secretary Sean Spicer (cropped).jpg Sean Spicer January 20, 2017July 21, 2017 [29] 182 days Donald Trump
Sarah Sanders (49290685006) (cropped).jpg Sarah Huckabee Sanders July 21, 2017 [30] [31] July 1, 20191 year, 345 days
Stephanie Grisham.jpg Stephanie Grisham [lower-alpha 3] July 1, 2019April 7, 2020281 days
Kayleigh McEnany (51328311597) (cropped).jpg Kayleigh McEnany April 7, 2020January 20, 2021288 days
Jen Psaki 2022.jpg Jen Psaki January 20, 2021May 13, 20221 year, 113 days Joe Biden
Karine Jean-Pierre 2021.jpg Karine Jean-Pierre May 13, 2022present1 year, 111 days

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Brady formally retained the title of press secretary until the end of the Reagan administration in 1989, but he did not brief the press after he was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt. Speakes and Fitzwater served as de facto press secretaries.
  2. Stephanopoulos briefed the press during his tenure as communications director, despite Myers formally holding the title.
  3. Grisham, unlike her predecessors, did not hold any formal White House press briefings.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp David</span> Country retreat of the US president

Camp David is a 125-acre (51 ha) country retreat for the President of the United States. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about 62 miles (100 km) north-northwest of the national capital city of Washington, D.C. It is code named Naval Support Facility Thurmont. Technically a military installation, its staffing is primarily provided by the Seabees, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Naval construction battalions are tasked with Camp David construction and send detachments as needed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Chief of Staff</span> U.S. presidential appointee

The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a cabinet position, in the federal government of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George B. Cortelyou</span> American politician (1862–1940)

George Bruce Cortelyou was an American cabinet secretary of the early twentieth century. He served in various capacities in the presidential administrations of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Wing</span> Structure part of the White House complex

The West Wing of the White House houses the offices of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Early</span> American journalist

Stephen Tyree Early was a U.S. journalist and government official. He served as the third White House press secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and as the acting press secretary under President Harry S. Truman in 1950 after the sudden death of Charles Griffith Ross. Early served as press secretary longer than any other person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George E. Akerson</span> American journalist

George Edward Akerson was an American journalist and the first official White House Press Secretary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eisenhower Executive Office Building</span> U.S. historic place and government building

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally known as the State, War, and Navy Building, is a United States government building that is part of the White House compound in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. Maintained by the General Services Administration, the building currently houses the Executive Office of the President, including the Office of the Vice President of the United States. In 1999, the building was renamed in honor of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president and a five-star U.S. Army general who oversaw several military campaigns of the Allied forces during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hagerty</span> American journalist

James Campbell Hagerty served as the eighth White House Press Secretary from 1953 to 1961 during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was known for providing much more detail on the lifestyle of the president than previous press secretaries; for example, he covered in great detail Eisenhower's medical condition. Most of the time, he handled routine affairs such as daily reports on presidential activities, defending presidential policies, and assisting diplomatic visitors. He handled embarrassing episodes, such as those related to the Soviet downing of an American spy plane, the U-2 in 1960. He handled press relations on Eisenhower's international trips, sometimes taking the blame from a hostile foreign press. Eisenhower often relied upon him for advice about public opinion, and how to phrase complex issues. Hagerty had a reputation for supporting civil rights initiatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Joslin</span>

Theodore Goldsmith Joslin was the second White House Press Secretary under President Herbert Hoover from 1931 until 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. Brady Press Briefing Room</span> Briefing room in the White House

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is a small theater in the West Wing of the White House where the White House press secretary gives briefings to the news media and the president of the United States sometimes addresses the press and the nation. It is located between the workspace assigned to the White House press corps and the office of the press secretary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merriman Smith</span> American journalist

Albert Merriman Smith was an American wire service reporter, notably serving as White House correspondent for United Press International and its predecessor, United Press. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his coverage of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 by Lyndon B. Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portraits of presidents of the United States</span> List of each official painting or photograph for all United States presidents

Beginning with painter Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington, it has been traditional for the president of the United States to have an official portrait taken during their time in office, most commonly an oil painting. This tradition has continued to modern times, although since the adoption of photography as a widely used and reliable technology, the official portrait may also be a photograph.

In the United States, a presidential transition is the process during which the president-elect of the United States prepares to take over the administration of the federal government of the United States from the incumbent president. Though planning for transition by a non-incumbent candidate can start at any time before a presidential election and in the days following, the transition formally starts when the General Services Administration (GSA) declares an “apparent winner” of the election, thereby releasing the funds appropriated by Congress for the transition, and continues until inauguration day, when the president-elect takes the oath of office, at which point the powers, immunities, and responsibilities of the presidency are legally transferred to the new president.

The Secretary to the President was a 19th- and early 20th-century White House position that carried out all the tasks now spread throughout the modern White House Office. The Secretary would act as a buffer between the president and the public, keeping the president's schedules and appointments, managing his correspondence, managing the staff, communicating to the press as well as being a close aide and advisor to the president in a manner that often required great skill and discretion. In terms of rank it is a precursor to the modern White House Chief of Staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Roosevelt desk</span> Oval Office desk

The desk in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, colloquially known as the Theodore Roosevelt desk, is a large mahogany pedestal desk in the collection of the White House. It is the first of six desks that have been used by U.S. presidents in the Oval Office, and since 1961 has been the used as the desk of the U.S. Vice President.

A press gaggle is an informal briefing by the White House Press Secretary which is on the record, but disallows videography. The term can refer to the informal interactions between the press and the press secretary that occur before a videotaped press briefing.

The following is a timeline of the presidency of George H. W. Bush, from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential transition of Richard Nixon</span>

The presidential transition of Richard Nixon began when he won the United States 1968 United States presidential election, becoming the president-elect, and ended when Nixon was inaugurated at noon EST on January 20, 1969. Nixon had become president-elect once the election results became clear on November 6, 1968, the day after the election. This was the first presidential transition to take place following the passage of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential transition of John F. Kennedy</span> Transfer of U.S. presidential power

The presidential transition of John F. Kennedy began when he won the 1960 United States presidential election, becoming the president-elect of the United States, and ended when Kennedy was inaugurated at noon EST on January 20, 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential transition of Dwight D. Eisenhower</span> Presidential Transition of the 34th President of the United States

The presidential transition of Dwight D. Eisenhower began when he won the United States 1952 United States presidential election, becoming the president-elect, and ended when Eisenhower was inaugurated at noon EST on January 20, 1953.

References

  1. "ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WHITE HOUSE OFFICE PERSONNEL" (PDF). White House. July 1, 2021. p. 8. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  2. "President Biden Announces Karine Jean-Pierre as White House Press Secretary". White House. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Nelson, W. Dale (1998). Who Speaks for the President?: The White House Press Secretary from Cleveland to Clinton. Syracuse University Press. ISBN   0-8156-0514-5.
  4. Bumiller, Elizabeth (May 30, 2005). "From Jenna's Ex to a Presidential Jeeves". The New York Times . Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  5. Christopher, Tommy (March 18, 2011). "Jay Carney One Month Report Card". Mediaite . Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  6. Patterson, Bradley (2008). To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff . Brookings Institution. p.  209. ISBN   9780815769545.
  7. Cook, Dave (February 16, 2011). "White House Change of Style: Jay Carney Takes Podium as New Press Secretary". The Christian Science Monitor . Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  8. Stanton, Laura. "Inside Obama's West Wing". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  9. "President Bush Unveils Renovated Press Briefing Room". White House. July 11, 2007. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2011 via National Archives.
  10. Engber, Daniel (November 19, 2005). "What's a senior administration official?". Slate . Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  11. Patterson, Bradley (2008). To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff . Brookings Institution. p.  214. ISBN   9780815769545.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 McQuiston, John T. (April 13, 1981). "James C. Hagerty, 71, Dies-Eisenhower Press Secretary". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  13. 1 2 Towle, Michael J. (Spring 1997). "On behalf of the president: Four factors affecting the success of the presidential press secretary". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 27 (2): 297–319. JSTOR   27551732.
  14. White, Graham J. (1979). FDR and the Press . University of Chicago Press. p.  14. ISBN   978-0-226-89512-3.
  15. Neal, Steve (2003). HST: Memories of the Truman Years. SIU Press. p. 117. ISBN   9780809325580. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  16. "Charlie G. Ross Papers". Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  17. "Joseph H. Short and Beth Campbell Papers". Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on November 23, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  18. "Roger Tubby Oral History Interview". Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  19. "James C. Hagerty Papers" (PDF). Eisenhower Presidential Center. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  20. United States Congress. "Pierre Salinger (id: S000016)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress .
  21. "HR 557 (2003)". Texas House of Representatives. April 8, 2003. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  22. "Moyers, Bill". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  23. Weber, Bruce (April 2, 2010). "J.F. terHorst, Ford Press Secretary, Dies at 87". The New York Times . p. A16. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  24. "Ron Nessen Files". Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  25. "Announcement of the Presentation of the Presidential Citizens Medal to Larry M. Speakes". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. January 30, 1987. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  26. 1 2 "Appointment of Marlin Fitzwater as Assistant to the President for Press Relations". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. January 12, 1987. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  27. "President Announces Tony Snow as Press Secretary". Office of the White House Press Secretary. April 26, 2006. Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  28. Mason, Jeff (January 28, 2011). "Former reporter Carney next White House spokesman". Reuters . Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  29. Thrush, Glenn; Haberman, Maggie (July 21, 2017). "Sean Spicer Resigns as White House Press Secretary". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  30. "President Donald J. Trump Elevates Sarah Sanders to the Role of White House Press Secretary" (Press release). White House. United States, Office of the Press Secretary. July 21, 2017. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  31. Glum, Julia (July 23, 2017). "Meet Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's New Press Secretary Who Has Long Defended Bombastic Conservatives". Newsweek . Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.

Further reading