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White House Chief of Staff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U.S. presidential appointee
White House Chief of Staff
Incumbent
Susie Wiles
since January 20, 2025
White House Office
Executive Office of the President
Reports toPresident of the United States
AppointerPresident of the United States
Formation1946 (Assistant to the President)
1961 (White House Chief of Staff)
First holderJohn R. Steelman
DeputyWhite House Deputy Chief of Staff
Websitewww.whitehouse.gov
PresidentJoe Biden walks with Chief of StaffRon Klain along the Colonnade of the White House.
Chief of StaffJack Watson (1980–1981) meets with PresidentJimmy Carter in theOval Office.
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush sits at his desk in theOval Office Study as Chief of StaffJohn Sununu stands nearby.
Chief of StaffReince Priebus looks into the Oval Office as PresidentDonald Trump reads over his notes.

PresidentBarack Obama meets with White House Chief of StaffRahm Emanuel in theOval Office.

TheWhite House chief of staff is the head of theExecutive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States.

The chief of staff is apolitical appointee of thepresident of the United States who does not requireSenate confirmation, and who serves at the pleasure of the president. While not a legally required role, all presidents sinceHarry S. Truman have appointed a chief of staff.James Baker is the only person to hold the office twice or serve under two different presidents.

In the second administration of PresidentDonald Trump, the current chief of staff isSusie Wiles, who succeededJeff Zients on January 20, 2025. The chief of staff is the most senior political appointee in the White House. The position is widely recognized as one of great power and influence, owing to daily contact with the president of the United States and control of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Historical background

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Originally, the duties now performed by the chief of staff belonged to the president'sprivate secretary and were fulfilled by crucial confidantes and policy advisers such asGeorge B. Cortelyou,Joseph Tumulty, andLouis McHenry Howe to presidentsTheodore Roosevelt,Woodrow Wilson, andFranklin D. Roosevelt, respectively.[1] The private secretary served as the president'sde facto chief aide, in a role that combined personal and professional assignments of highly delicate and demanding natures, requiring great skill and utmost discretion.[2] The job of gatekeeper and overseeing the president's schedule was separately delegated to the appointments secretary, as with aideEdwin "Pa" Watson.[3]

From 1933 to 1939, as he greatly expanded the scope of the federal government's policies and powers in response to theGreat Depression, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt relied on his 'Brain Trust' of top advisers. Although working directly for the president, they were often appointed to vacant positions in federal agencies and departments, whence they drew their salaries since theWhite House lacked statutory or budgetary authority to create staff positions. It was not until 1939, during Roosevelt's second term in office, that the foundations of the modernWhite House staff were created using a formal structure. Roosevelt was able to persuade Congress to approve the creation of theExecutive Office of the President, which would report directly to the president. DuringWorld War II, Roosevelt created the position of "Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief" for his principal military adviser, Fleet AdmiralWilliam D. Leahy.[citation needed]

In 1946, in response to the rapid growth of the U.S. government'sexecutive branch, the position of "Assistant to the President of the United States" was established. Charged with the affairs of the White House, it was the immediate predecessor to the modern chief of staff. It was in 1953, underRepublican PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower, that the president's preeminent assistant was designated the "White House chief of staff".[citation needed]

Assistant to the president became a rank generally shared by the chief of staff along with the other most senior presidential aides such as theWhite House counsel, theWhite House press secretary, and others. This new system did not catch on immediately however. PresidentsKennedy andJohnson still relied on their appointments secretaries instead, and it was not until theNixon administration that the chief of staff took over maintenance of the president's schedule. This concentration of power in theNixon andFord White House (whose last chief of staff wasDick Cheney) led presidential candidateJimmy Carter to campaign in 1976 with the promise that he would not appoint a chief of staff. And indeed, for the first two and a half years of his presidency, he appointed no one to the post.[4][5]

Average tenure in office

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The average tenure for a White House chief of staff is just over 18 months.[6] The inaugural chief of staff,John R. Steelman, underHarry S. Truman, was the president's only chief of staff;Kenneth O'Donnell alone served in the position duringJohn F. Kennedy's unfinished term of 34 months in office.Andrew Card andDenis McDonough each served at least one entire presidential term of office under presidentsGeorge W. Bush andBarack Obama, respectively.[citation needed]

Role

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Chris Whipple, author ofThe Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, loosely describes the role of a White House chief of staff through his interview with former presidentBarack Obama:

During the last days of his presidency, Barack Obama observed: "One of the things I've learned is that the big breakthroughs are typically the result of a lot of grunt work—just a whole lot of blocking and tackling." Grunt work is what chiefs of staff do.[6]

The responsibilities of the chief of staff are both managerial and advisory and may include the following:

  • Selecting senior White House staffers and supervising their offices' activities
  • Managing and designing the overall structure of the White House staff system
  • Control the flow of people into theOval Office
  • Manage the flow of information to and decisions from theResolute desk (with theWhite House staff secretary)
  • Directing, managing and overseeing all policy development
  • Protecting the political interests of the president
  • Negotiating legislation and appropriating funds withUnited States Congress leaders,Cabinet secretaries, and extra-governmental political groups to implement the president's agenda
  • Advise on any and usually various issues set by the president[6]

These responsibilities have recently extended to firing of senior staff members. In the case ofOmarosa Manigault Newman, who published a tape she alleged was made in theSituation Room of her firing by Chief of Staff John Kelly, the chief of staff said that his decision for her departure was non-negotiable and that "the staff and everyone on the staff works for me and not the president."[7]

Richard Nixon's first chief of staff,H. R. Haldeman, garnered a reputation in Washington for the iron hand he wielded in the position. Referring to himself as "the president's son-of-a-bitch", he was a rigid gatekeeper who would frequently meet with administration officials in place of the president, and then report to Nixon on the officials' talking points himself. JournalistBob Woodward, in his booksAll the President's Men (1974) andThe Secret Man (2005), wrote that many of his sources, includingMark Felt, later revealed as "Deep Throat", displayed a genuine fear of Haldeman.[8][9]

List of White House chiefs of staff

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  Denotes acting capacity.
ImageNameStartEndDurationPresident
John SteelmanDecember 12, 1946January 20, 19536 years, 39 daysHarry S. Truman
(1945–1953)
Sherman AdamsJanuary 20, 1953October 7, 19585 years, 260 daysDwight D. Eisenhower
(1953–1961)
Wilton PersonsOctober 7, 1958January 20, 19612 years, 105 days
Kenneth O'Donnell
De facto		January 20, 1961November 22, 19632 years, 306 daysJohn F. Kennedy
(1961–1963)
Walter Jenkins
De facto		November 22, 1963October 14, 1964327 daysLyndon B. Johnson
(1963–1969)
Bill Moyers
De facto		October 14, 1964July 8, 1965267 days
Jack Valenti
De facto		July 8, 1965June 1, 1966328 days
Marvin Watson
De facto		June 1, 1966April 26, 19681 year, 330 days
James Jones
De facto		April 26, 1968January 20, 1969269 days
Bob HaldemanJanuary 20, 1969April 30, 19734 years, 100 daysRichard Nixon
(1969–1974)
VacantApril 30, 1973May 4, 19734 days
Al HaigMay 4, 1973September 21, 19741 year, 140 days
Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)
Donald RumsfeldSeptember 21, 1974November 20, 19751 year, 60 days
Dick CheneyNovember 20, 1975January 20, 19771 year, 61 days
VacantJanuary 20, 1977July 18, 19792 years, 179 daysJimmy Carter
(1977–1981)
Ham JordanJuly 18, 1979June 11, 1980329 days
Jack WatsonJune 11, 1980January 20, 1981223 days
James BakerJanuary 20, 1981February 4, 19854 years, 15 daysRonald Reagan
(1981–1989)
Don ReganFebruary 4, 1985February 27, 19872 years, 23 days
Howard BakerFebruary 27, 1987July 1, 19881 year, 125 days
Ken DubersteinJuly 1, 1988January 20, 1989203 days
John SununuJanuary 20, 1989December 16, 19912 years, 330 daysGeorge H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)
Samuel SkinnerDecember 16, 1991August 23, 1992251 days
James BakerAugust 23, 1992January 20, 1993150 days
Mack McLartyJanuary 20, 1993July 17, 19941 year, 178 daysBill Clinton
(1993–2001)
Leon PanettaJuly 17, 1994January 20, 19972 years, 187 days
Erskine BowlesJanuary 20, 1997October 20, 19981 year, 273 days
John PodestaOctober 20, 1998January 20, 20012 years, 92 days
Andy CardJanuary 20, 2001April 14, 20065 years, 84 daysGeorge W. Bush
(2001–2009)
Josh BoltenApril 14, 2006January 20, 20092 years, 281 days
Rahm EmanuelJanuary 20, 2009October 1, 20101 year, 254 daysBarack Obama
(2009–2017)
Pete Rouse
Acting		October 1, 2010January 13, 2011104 days
Bill DaleyJanuary 13, 2011January 27, 20121 year, 14 days
Jack LewJanuary 27, 2012January 20, 2013359 days
Denis McDonoughJanuary 20, 2013January 20, 20174 years, 0 days
Reince PriebusJanuary 20, 2017July 31, 2017192 daysDonald Trump
(2017–2021)
John KellyJuly 31, 2017January 2, 20191 year, 155 days
Mick Mulvaney
Acting		January 2, 2019March 31, 20201 year, 89 days
Mark MeadowsMarch 31, 2020January 20, 2021295 days
Ron KlainJanuary 20, 2021February 7, 20232 years, 18 daysJoe Biden
(2021–2025)
Jeff ZientsFebruary 8, 2023January 20, 20251 year, 347 days
Susie WilesJanuary 20, 2025Incumbent307 daysDonald Trump
(2025–present)

See also

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References

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  1. ^"New Quarters".Time. December 17, 1934. Archived fromthe original on January 20, 2009. RetrievedMay 8, 2008.
  2. ^"An Appointment".Time. August 20, 1923. Archived fromthe original on December 22, 2008. RetrievedMay 9, 2009.
  3. ^Hassett, William D. (1958).Off the Record with FDR 1942–1945. Chicago: Rutgers University Press. p. 36. RetrievedMay 9, 2009.
  4. ^"Hamilton Jordan, Carter's Right Hand, Dies at 63".The New York Times. May 21, 2008. RetrievedMarch 7, 2016.
  5. ^Michael Nelson (2013).The Presidency and the Political System. SAGE Publications. p. 351.ISBN 9781483322896. RetrievedMarch 7, 2016.
  6. ^abcWhipple, Chris (2017).The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency(registration required). New York: Crown Publishing Group.ISBN 9780804138246.OCLC 953597729.
  7. ^"Transcript".CNN. August 13, 2018.
  8. ^Woodward, Bob;Bernstein, Carl (1974).All the President's Men. New York:Simon & Schuster.ISBN 978-0-671-21781-5.
  9. ^Woodward, Bob (2005).The Secret Man. New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN 0-7432-8715-0.
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