White House Press Secretary

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List of Press Secretaries
Year(s)	Name	President
2006–present	Tony Snow	George W. Bush
2003–2006	Scott McClellan	George W. Bush
2001–2003	Ari Fleischer	George W. Bush
2000–2001	Jake Siewert	Bill Clinton
1998–2000	Joe Lockhart	Bill Clinton
1994–1998	Mike McCurry	Bill Clinton
1993–1994	Dee Dee Myers	Bill Clinton
1989–1993	Marlin Fitzwater	George H. W. Bush
1987–1989	Marlin Fitzwater†	Ronald Reagan
1981–1987	Larry Speakes†	Ronald Reagan
1981–1989	James Brady‡	Ronald Reagan
1977–1981	Jody Powell	Jimmy Carter
1974–1977	Ron Nessen	Gerald Ford
1974	Jerald terHorst	Gerald Ford
1969–1974	Ron Ziegler	Richard Nixon
1967–1969	George Christian	Lyndon B. Johnson
1965–1966	Bill Moyers	Lyndon B. Johnson
1964–1965	George Reedy	Lyndon B. Johnson
1961–1964	Pierre Salinger	Lyndon B. Johnson John F. Kennedy
1953–1961	James C. Hagerty	Dwight D. Eisenhower
1952–1953	Roger Tubby	Harry S. Truman
1950–1952	Joseph Short	Harry S. Truman
1950	Stephen Early	Harry S. Truman
1945–1950	Charles G. Ross	Harry S. Truman
1945	Jonathan W. Daniels	Harry S. Truman Franklin D. Roosevelt
1945	J. Leonard Reinsch	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1937–1945	Stephen Early	Franklin D. Roosevelt
† De facto Press Secretary ‡ Did not brief the press after March 30, 1981 (see Reagan assassination attempt)

The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official with a rank one step below Presidential Cabinet level. The Press Secretary is the primary spokesperson for the Administration. The current Press Secretary is Tony Snow.

[edit] Responsibilities

Responsibilities center on collecting information about what is happening inside the Administration and around the world, and getting that information to the media in a timely and accurate fashion. The information includes things like a summary of the President's schedule for the day, whom the President has seen, called or had interactions with, and the official position of the Administration on the news of the day.

The Press Secretary traditionally also fields questions from the press corps in briefings and press conferences, which are generally televised, and "press gaggles", which are on-the-record briefings without video recording, though transcripts are usually made available.

The position of White House Press Secretary has often been filled by individuals from news media backgrounds:

Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Stephen T. Early, a United Press International reporter and Associated Press correspondent;
Harry S. Truman appointed J. Leonard Reinsch, a radio man; Jonathan W. Daniels, a newspaper man who was in the Franklin Roosevelt Administration in multiple agencies and boards just prior to becoming White House Press Secretary; Charles Griffith Ross, a newspaper man who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1932; Early; Joseph Short, a newspaper man; and Roger Tubby, a reporter and editor turned Democratic National Committee spokesman before becoming White House Press Secretary;
Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed James C. Hagerty, a New York Times reporter;
John F. Kennedy appointed Pierre Salinger, a reporter and editor;
Lyndon B. Johnson appointed George Christian, a reporter for International News Service;
Gerald Ford appointed newspaper veteran Jerald terHorst and NBC News correspondent Ron Nessen to the post;
Ronald Reagan appointed Larry Speakes, a newspaper man, and Marlin Fitzwater, a newspaper man;
George H.W. Bush retained Fitzwater.
George W. Bush appointed Fox News anchor Tony Snow.

[edit] Trivia

As of 2006:

Stephen Early and Marlin Fitzwater are the only press secretaries with two terms of service, under two presidents.
Jonathan W. Daniels had the shortest term of service of all ex-press secretaries.
Bill Moyers is the "senior" ex-press secretary; all preceding press secretaries are deceased.
Dee Dee Myers is the only female to serve as White House Press Secretary.
The average tenure of White House Press Secretaries from 1950 to the present is 2.66 years.