Joshua Brewster Bolten (born August 16, 1954) is the current White House Chief of Staff serving U.S. President George W. Bush. Bolten replaced Andrew Card on April 14, 2006.
Early history
Bolten's father, Seymour, worked for the CIA and his mother, Analouise, taught world history at the George Washington University.[1] He graduated from St. Albans School, and he is now on the school's board.
At Princeton University, he studied in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and served as class president and president of The Ivy Club.[2] He graduated in 1976. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1980 and served as an editor of the law review.
Professional life
Formerly the Director on Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Bolten was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to that position in 2003. Bolten was Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House from 2001 to 2003. He previously served as policy director for the 2000 George W. Bush Presidential campaign from 1999 to 2000 and as Executive Director for Legal and Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs in London from 1994 to 1999.[3]
He was general counsel to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for three years and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs for one year during the administration of George H. W. Bush. Bolten is the second Jewish person appointed as White House Chief of Staff (Ken Duberstein, who held that post during the Reagan Administration, was the first),[4] and, after Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, the second Jewish person appointed to the Bush cabinet.[5]
Bolten is sworn in as White House Chief of Staff by his Deputy Joe Hagin; his predecessor Andrew Card looks on.
Bolten was named as White House Chief of Staff to smooth relations with the United States Congress, and to reinvigorate the West Wing staff.citation needed He is credited with having assisted the President in recruiting Henry Paulson - the CEO of Goldman Sachs - to serve as Treasury Secretary, based on his former employment at the firm.[6] In addition, he recruited Tony Snow to work as White House Press Secretary, offered Rob Portman the opportunity to succeed him as OMB Director, and brought his OMB deputy Joel Kaplan in to the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.[7]
On June 13, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Bolten for documents related to the dismissal of U.S. attorneys[8]. The subpoena had a deadline of June 28.[9] On Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted 22-17 to cite Bolten for contempt of Congress for his failure to produce the documents in response to its subpoena.[10] On Feb. 14, 2008, the full House of Representatives voted to cite him for contempt by a vote of 223-32. Many Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest, deriding the priorities of the speaker in calling the vote, as opposed to a vote on a surveillance bill. [1]
Personal life
Joshua Bolten plays bass guitar in a band called the Compassionates.[11]
References
- ^ Birnbaum, Jeff (Summer 2004). "Yosh!", Stanford Lawyer.
- ^ Cai, Angela (29 March 2006). "Bush names Bolten '76 chief of staff", Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-07-06.
- ^ Joshua Bolten, White House Chief of Staff
- ^ Berger, Matthew (31 March 2006). "New chief of staff has strong Jewish identity", Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (25 April 2006). "Top White House posts go to Jews", Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ Gleckman, Howard (30 May 2006). "Paulson to the Rescue?", BusinessWeek.
- ^ Baker, Peter (17 June 2006). "White House Personnel Changes Complete", Washington Post.
- ^ Original Text of the Subpoena, U.S. House Judiciary Committee, http://judiciary.house.gov/Media/PDFS/BoltenSubpoena070613.pdf
- ^ Perine, Keith (2007-06-28). "Bush, Congress in Legal Limbo Over Privilege". Congressional Quarterly. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ Stout, David (2007-07-25). "Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt". New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ "White House's Bolten shows "Born to be Wild" side", Reuters (June 16, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-25.
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