Denis McDonough
Denis McDonough | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 26th White House Chief of Staff | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Jack Lew |
| Succeeded by | Reince Priebus (designate) |
| Deputy National Security Advisor | |
| In office October 20, 2010 – January 20, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Thomas Donilon |
| Succeeded by | Tony Blinken |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Denis Richard McDonough December 2, 1969 Stillwater, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Karin Hillstrom |
| Alma mater | St. John's University, Minnesota (BA) Georgetown University (MS) |
Denis Richard McDonough (born December 2, 1969) is the 26th and current White House Chief of Staff, succeeding Jack Lew at the start of President Barack Obama's second term.[1]
Early life
McDonough was born on December 2, 1969, in Stillwater, Minnesota.[2] He is one of eleven children of Kathleen Marie (O'Mahony) and William Joseph McDonough.[3][4] He was raised in a devout Catholic family.[5]
McDonough attended Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he played safety on the Johnnies football team for Hall of Fame coach John Gagliardi.[6][7] McDonough was a member of teams that won two conference titles in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.[6] McDonough graduated from Saint John's University with a B.A. summa cum laude in history and Spanish in 1992.[6] After graduation, McDonough traveled extensively throughout Latin America and taught high school in Belize.[6]
He graduated from Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service with an MSFS degree in 1996.[6]
Early career
From 1996 to 1999, McDonough worked as an aide to the House Foreign Affairs Committee,[8] where he focused on Latin America.[2] McDonough then served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Senator Tom Daschle.[6] After Daschle's re-election defeat in 2004, McDonough became legislative director for newly elected Senator Ken Salazar.[6] McDonough later served as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in 2004.[2]
In 2007, Senator Barack Obama's chief foreign policy advisor, Navy reservist Mark Lippert, was called into active duty and recruited McDonough to serve as his replacement during Lippert's deployment to Iraq.[6][9] McDonough continued to serve as a senior foreign policy advisor to Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.[2][10]
Obama administration
After President Obama's election, he joined the administration as the National Security Council's head of Strategic Communication.[8] He also served as National Security Council Chief of Staff.[11]
On October 20, 2010, President Barack Obama announced that McDonough would be replacing Thomas E. Donilon as Deputy National Security Advisor, who had been promoted to succeed General James L. Jones as National Security Advisor.[12] McDonough was seen in photos of the White House Situation Room taken during the monitoring of the SEAL operation in Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011.
On January 20, 2013, at the beginning of his second term in office, Obama appointed McDonough as his Chief of Staff. In February 2013 McDonough urged lawmakers to quickly confirm Chuck Hagel and John O. Brennan to their posts in Obama's national security team, expressing "grave concern" about the delays.
As Chief of Staff, the former Congressional staffer made greater outreach to Republican Senators a major priority, with one Republican referring to his tenure as Chief of Staff as "a breath of fresh air".[13]
References
- ^ The Washington Post (2013). Denis McDonough to be Obama’s new chief of staff. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d Michael Cooper (November 23, 2008). "The New Team". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ George Thole (April 17, 2008). "Thole: Remember sacrifices of those who serve". Stillwater Gazette. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VC82-PWN
- ^ "Who is Denis McDonough?". Our Daily Thread. 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Arthur Eisele (Winter 2009). "At Home in the West Wing: An Interview with Denis McDonough '92" (PDF). Saint John's Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Thayer Evans (September 18, 2009). "No Whistles, No Tackling and No End in Sight for St. John's Coach". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Garance Franke-Ruta (October 22, 2010). "Denis McDonough: Five things worth knowing". WhoRunsGov. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ Monica Langley (September 22, 2007). "From the Campaign to the Battlefront". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ "Obama's People". The New York Times Magazine. January 18, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ Helene Cooper (July 9, 2010). "The Saturday Profile: The Adviser at the Heart of National Security". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ Peter Baker (October 22, 2010). "Obama Making National Security Appointment". The New York Times. The Caucus Blog. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ^ Cass, Michael (August 22, 2013). "Sen. Bob Corker explains why he missed Obama speech". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
External links
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Members of the Cabinet of the United States | ||
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| Cabinet members |  | |
| Cabinet-level members | ||
a acting Cabinet of Joe Biden | ||
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- 1969 births
- American Roman Catholics
- Center for American Progress people
- College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni
- Georgetown University alumni
- Living people
- Obama administration personnel
- People from Stillwater, Minnesota
- Minnesota Democrats
- United States National Security Advisors
- White House Chiefs of Staff