Preceded by Ron Klain Name Bruce Reed Political party Democratic | Full Name Bruce Reed Succeeded by Steve Ricchetti | |
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Born March 16, 1960 (age 64)
Boise, Idaho ( 1960-03-16 ) Alma mater Oxford University (M.Phil.) | ||
Bruce Reed (born March 16, 1960) is the former 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 is a former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).
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Early life and education
Reed is a native of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and the son of Idaho State Senator Mary Lou Reed and Scott Reed, prominent environmental attorney. He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1982, and earned a master's degree in English Literature from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
Career
Reed served as chief speechwriter for Tennessee Senator Al Gore from 1985 to 1989. He was founding editor of the DLC magazine, The New Democrat and served as policy director of the DLC from 1990 to 1991 under DLC Chairman and Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton. In 1992, he was deputy campaign manager for policy of the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. During the Clinton presidency, Reed served as chief domestic policy advisor and director of the Domestic Policy Council, and helped to write the 1996 welfare reform law known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act. He is credited with coining the welfare reform catchphrase, "end welfare as we know it."
Reed is the author of the taunt, "change you can Xerox," from the February 21, 2008 presidential primary debate in Austin, Texas. Reed supplied Senator Hillary Clinton with the phrase to invoke accusations of plagiarism against rival Senator Barack Obama while parodying his campaign slogan: "Change you can believe in."
In the spring of 2010, Reed took a leave of absence from the DLC to become Executive Director of President National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Simpson-Bowles Commission). On January 14, 2011 he was named Chief of Staff to Vice President Joe Biden, succeeding Ron Klain. In November 2013 it was announced that he would step down as the Vice President's Chief of Staff to become president of the Broad Foundation.