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Ron Klain

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Paintspot (talk | contribs) at 20:07, 7 January 2021 (Added pronunciation templates (IPA and Respelling), since any readers unfamiliar with the name might not know how it's pronounced, and might assume it's pronounced "KL[eye]N" instead of "KL[ay]N"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ron Klain
Klain standing and smiling
Klain in 2015
White House Chief of Staff
Designate
Assuming office
January 20, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden (elect)
DeputyJen O'Malley Dillon (Designate)
Bruce Reed (Designate)
SucceedingMark Meadows
White House Ebola Response Coordinator
In office
October 22, 2014 – February 15, 2015
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Chief of Staff to the Vice President
In office
January 20, 2009 – January 14, 2011
Vice PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDavid Addington
Succeeded byBruce Reed
In office
November 1, 1995 – August 3, 1999
Vice PresidentAl Gore
Preceded byJack Quinn
Succeeded byCharles Burson
Personal details
Born
Ronald Alan Klain[1]

(1961-08-08) August 8, 1961 (age 63)[2]
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMonica Medina
Children3
EducationGeorgetown University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Ronald Alan Klain (/ˈkln/ KLAYN; born August 8, 1961) is an American attorney, political consultant, and former lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as chief of staff to two U.S. vice presidents: Al Gore (1995–1999) and Joe Biden (2009–2011). After there were reported Ebola virus cases in the United States, he was appointed by Barack Obama to serve as the White House Ebola Response Coordinator in late 2014, serving into early 2015.[3]

In early 2020, he joined Biden's presidential campaign as a senior advisor.[4][5] Following his victory, president-elect Biden announced that Klain would serve as White House Chief of Staff on November 12.[6][7]

Early life and education

Klain was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Stanley Klain, a building contractor, and Sarann Warner (née Horwitz), a travel agent.[8][9][10] Klain is Jewish.[11][12] 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 received his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Georgetown University in 1983. In 1987, he received his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.[13]

Career

Law clerk and Capitol Hill

Klain was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron White during the 1987 and 1988 terms.[14] From 1989 to 1992, he served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary,[15] 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 a legislative director for U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D–MA).[16] In 1995, Senator Tom Daschle appointed him the Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee.[13]

Clinton administration

Klain joined the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992 and was involved in both of Bill Clinton's presidential campaigns.[15] He oversaw Clinton's judicial nominations. In the White House, Klain was Associate Counsel to the President, directing judicial selection efforts and leading the team that won confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[15] In 1994, he became Chief of Staff and Counselor to Attorney General Janet Reno and in 1995, Chief of Staff to Al Gore.[17]

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.[citation needed] In 1999, feuding broke out between Clinton and Gore loyalists. Klain was ousted by Gore campaign chairman Tony Coelho in August 1999.[citation needed]

In October 1999, Klain joined the Washington, D.C. office of O'Melveny & Myers, a law firm.[18] In 2000, Klain returned to the Gore campaign, which named him General Counsel of Gore's Recount Committee.[3]

Lobbying

Klain was registered as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae until 2005.[19]

2004–2014

During the 2004 presidential campaign early primaries, Klain worked as an adviser to Wesley Clark during Clark's run for president. In the general election, Klain was heavily involved behind the scenes in John Kerry's campaign.[20]

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.[3] At the time of his October 2014 appointment as Ebola response coordinator, he was General Counsel at Revolution LLC and President of Case Holdings.[21]

Obama administration 2008–2015

Klain briefing President Obama in his role as Ebola Response Coordinator

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.[22][23][24]

Klain had worked with Biden, having served as counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary while Biden chaired the committee and assisted Biden's speechwriting team during the 1988 presidential campaign.[25]

Klain was mentioned as a possible replacement for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel,[26] but opted to leave the White House for a position in the private sector in January 2011.[24]

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."[27] On October 17, 2014, Klain was appointed the "Ebola response coordinator" sometimes referred to as Ebola "czar."[28][29][30] Although Klain, according to Julie Hirschfeld Davis writing in The New York Times, had "no record or expertise in Ebola specifically or public health in general,"[29] the choice was praised by Ezra Klein for his bureaucratic experience with coordinating agencies.[31][32] His term as Ebola response coordinator ended in February 2015.

Since leaving the Obama administration, Klain has worked as an external adviser to the Skoll Foundation Global Threats Fund[33] and is Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the investment firm Revolution LLC.[34][35]

Biden administration

On November 11, 2020, it was announced that President-elect Joe Biden had selected Klain to be White House Chief of Staff.[36][37]

Personal life

Klain is married to Monica Medina, an attorney and environmental activist who served as Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and is currently at the Walton Family Foundation. They have three children, Hannah, Michael, and Daniel.[38][8]

Klain was portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the HBO film Recount depicting the tumult of the 2000 presidential election.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/399735663/
  2. ^ Warshaw, Shirley Anne (2014). The Clinton Years. Infobase Publishing. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-8160-7459-4. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c School, Harvard Law. "Ron Klain | Harvard Law School". Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "Biden for President: More Senior Advisors". Democracy in Action. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Parnes, Amie (September 27, 2020). "Meet Joe Biden's chief debate guru". The Hill. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Shear, Michael D.; Glueck, Katie; Haberman, Maggie; Kaplan, Thomas (November 11, 2020). "Biden Names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "President-elect Joe Biden Names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff". President-Elect Joe Biden. November 12, 2020. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The New Team: Ronald Klain". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "Student Honors". Indiana Jewish Post. Indianapolis, Indiana. June 18, 1976. p. 15. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (November 11, 2020). "Klain tapped as Biden's incoming White House chief of staff". Jewish Insider. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "By Omri Nahmias, November 12, 2020 The Jerusalem Post". Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  12. ^ Jewish Daily Forward: "Obama Appoints Ron Klain as Ebola 'Czar' – Former White House Official Is a Top Jewish Lawyer Archived October 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine October 17, 2014
  13. ^ a b "Ron Klain". GU Politics. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "Ron Klain". Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service McCourt School of Public Policy. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Ron Klain". Washington Post Politics. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Anand, Priya (July 19, 2013). "Politicos to Watch: Ron Klain". Politico. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  17. ^ Miller, Zeke J.; Rothman, Lily (December 5, 2014). "What Happened to the 'Future Leaders' of the 1990s?". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  18. ^ "Ronald A. Klain". Administrative Conference of the United States. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  19. ^ Mosk, Matthew (November 15, 2008). "Some Former Lobbyists Have Key Roles in Obama Transition". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  20. ^ Martin Kasendorf and Richard Benedetto (September 27, 2004). "Kerry, Bush Curtail Schedules as They Prepare for Duel". USA Today. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  21. ^ Allen, Mike (October 21, 2014). "Sources: Klain may succeed Podesta". Politico. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  22. ^ Koffler, Keith (November 12, 2008). "Sources: Biden Picks Klain to Be Chief of Staff" Archived January 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Roll Call; accessed October 18, 2014.
  23. ^ a b Allen, Mike (November 13, 2008). "Klain accepts job as Biden chief of staff" Archived December 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Politico.
  24. ^ a b Cooper, Helene C. (January 4, 2011). "Ron Klain Leaving Vice President's Staff". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  25. ^ Cramer, Richard Ben (1992). What It Takes: The Way to the White House. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-74649-8. p. 482.
  26. ^ Henry, Ed (September 8, 2010). "Who might replace Rahm Emanuel?". CNN. Archived from the original on September 10, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  27. ^ Madhani, Aamer (October 3, 2011). "E-mails show White House worried about Solyndra deal". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  28. ^ Jake Tapper (October 17, 2014). "Obama will name Ron Klain as Ebola czar". CNN. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  29. ^ a b Davis, Julie Hirschfeld; Shear, Michael D. (October 17, 2014). "Ron Klain, Chief of Staff to 2 Vice Presidents, Is Named Ebola Czar". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  30. ^ Lavender, Paige (October 17, 2014). "Obama To Appoint Ron Klain As Ebola Czar". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  31. ^ Klein, Ezra (October 17, 2014). "Ron Klain is a great choice for Ebola czar". Vox. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  32. ^ "The Brief – But Busy – Reign of the Ebola Czar". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  33. ^ Klain, Ron (August 2, 2016). "The Growing Zika Threat – and Congress's Inaction". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  34. ^ "Team Member: Ron Klain". Revolution. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  35. ^ "Ronald Klain". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  36. ^ Shear, Michael D.; Glueck, Katie; Haberman, Maggie; Kaplan, Thomas (November 12, 2020). "Biden to Name Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  37. ^ Barrabi, Thomas (November 11, 2020). "Biden selects Ronald Klain as White House chief of staff". Fox News. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  38. ^ "NOAA Leadership: Monica Medina" Archived December 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website; retrieved August 14, 2013.
Political offices
Preceded by Chief of Staff to the Vice President
1995–1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Staff to the Vice President
2009–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by White House Chief of Staff
Taking office 2021
Designate