Preceded by Position established Preceded by Jack Quinn Party Democratic Party Succeeded by Bruce Reed Spouse Monica Medina | Preceded by David Addington Name Ron Klain Succeeded by Position abolished Succeeded by Charles Burson Appointed by Barack Obama | |
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Role Chief of Staff for the Office of the Vice President Education Georgetown University, Harvard University, North Central High School, Harvard Law School Similar People Barack Obama, Nicole Lurie, Susan Rice, James Steinberg, Gary Gensler | ||
President Obama appoints Ron Klain as Ebola "czar"
Ronald A. Klain (born August 8, 1961) is an American political operative and lawyer who on October 17, 2014, was named for the newly created position of "Ebola response coordinator" or, less officially, Ebola Czar. He served as Chief of Staff to two U.S. Vice Presidents – Al Gore (1995–99) and Joe Biden (2009–11).
Contents
- President Obama appoints Ron Klain as Ebola czar
- Early life
- Law clerk and Capitol Hill
- Clinton administration
- Gore campaign 1999 2000
- Lobbying
- 20042008
- Obama administration 2008present
- Personal life
- In popular culture
- References
Early life
Klain was born on August 8, 1961 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Jewish parents. He graduated from North Central High School in 1979 and was on the school's Brain Game team, which finished as season runner-up. He graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University in 1983. In 1987, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Law clerk and Capitol Hill
Klain was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron White during the 1987 and 1988 terms. From 1989 to 1992, he served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, overseeing the legal staff's work on matters of constitutional law, criminal law, antitrust law, and Supreme Court nominations, including the 1991 Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination. He served as Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA). In 1995, Senator Tom Daschle appointed him the Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee.
Clinton administration
Klain joined the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992 and was involved in both of Bill Clinton's campaigns. He oversaw Clinton's judicial nominations, and was General Counsel to Al Gore's recount committee in 2000 election. Klain worked closely with Clinton aide Bruce Reed in formulating Clinton's "100,000 cops" proposal of his 1992 campaign. In the White House, Klain was Associate Counsel to the President, directing judicial selection efforts, and led the team that won confirmation of Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In 1994 he became Chief of Staff and Counselor to Attorney General Janet Reno and in 1995 Assistant to the President, and Chief of Staff to Al Gore.
Gore campaign 1999-2000
During Klain's tenure as Gore's Chief of Staff he was seen as too loyal to Clinton by some longtime Gore advisors, and in 1999 feuding broke out between Clinton and Gore loyalists. Klain was ousted by Gore campaign chairman Tony Coelho in August 1999. In October 1999, he joined the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers. In 2000, Klain returned to the Gore campaign, once Coelho was replaced by William M. Daley who hired Klain for a senior position in the Gore campaign and then named him General Counsel of Gore's Recount Committee.
Lobbying
Klain was signed up as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae until 2005 whom he helped overcome "regulatory issues".
2004–2008
During the 2004 US presidential campaign early primaries, Klain worked as an adviser to Wesley Clark. During the general election, Klain was heavily involved behind the scenes in John Kerry's campaign.
Klain served as an informal adviser to Evan Bayh, who is from Klain's home state of Indiana. In 2005, Klain left his partnership at O'Melveny & Myers to become Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Revolution LLC, a technology venture capital firm, launched by AOL co-founder Steve Case.. As of October 2014 he is General Counsel at Revolution LLC and President of Case Holdings.
Obama administration 2008–present
On November 12, 2008, Roll Call announced that Klain had been chosen to serve as Chief of Staff to Vice President Joe Biden, the same role he served for Gore.
Klain had worked with Biden, having served as counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary while Biden chaired that committee and assisted Biden's speechwriting team during the 1988 presidential campaign.
Klain was mentioned as a possible replacement for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, but opted to leave the White House for a position in the private sector in January 2011.
In 2011, amid concerns about whether the now-defunct solar-panel company Solyndra was viable, Klain approved an Obama visit, stating, "The reality is that if POTUS visited 10 such places over the next 10 months, probably a few will be belly-up by election day 2012." On October 17, 2014, Klain was appointed the "Ebola response coordinator" or, less officially, Ebola "czar" by President Barack Obama, to help coordinate the nation's response to the Ebola virus. His appointment has been criticized because he "has no record or expertise in Ebola specifically or public health in general".
Klain's term as Ebola response coordinator ended in February 2015. He is now an external adviser to the Skoll Global Threats Fund.
Personal life
Klain and his wife, Monica Medina, a lawyer and environmental activist who served as Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, and is currently at the Walton Family Foundation, have three children.
In popular culture
Klain was portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the HBO film Recount depicting the tumult of the 2000 presidential election.