Blake Gottesman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blake Gottesman
Blake Gottesman

Blake Gottesman (born 1980) was the personal aide and body man to President George W. Bush until 2006. His work for Bush began during Bush's presidential campaign in 1999.

Gottesman is Jewish.[1] His father is Sanford L. Gottesman, president of The Gottesman Company, a real estate development company based in Austin, Texas, and board member of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.[2]

Gottesman was educated at St. Andrews Episcopal School and Stephen F. Austin High School, both in Austin, Texas; during this time he dated Jenna Bush when the President owned the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team. Gottesman attended Claremont McKenna College for one year. While at Claremont McKenna College, he served as the personal assistant to the Associated Student Body President.

He worked as a junior aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card at the beginning of Bush's presidential term and became Bush's full-time personal aide in February 2002. Gottesman was responsible for managing the President's day-to-day activities and traveled with Bush to functions and on overseas trips. In a 2006 Time article on Gottesman, he was said to understand Bush's moods and tendencies better than most of his other advisors, leading many to have discussions with him on issues before presenting them to the President.[3] When compared to fictional presidential aide Charlie Young in television series The West Wing, Gottesman stated, "Our jobs are probably pretty similar."[4]

Though he initially said he had plans to finish college and then attend business school after finishing his work at the White House, Gottesman did not return to college and is currently attending Harvard Business School.[5] His admission to the school despite not having received an undergraduate degree was criticized by some media commentators.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jewish Journal (2008). Q & A With Ari Fleischer. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  2. ^ OPIC (2008). Sanford L. Gottesman. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  3. ^ Allen, Mike. "Who Knows Bush's Mind Best?", Time, 19 June 2006. 
  4. ^ White House (2005). Blake Gottesman hosts Ask the White House.
  5. ^ Bhayani, Paras D.. "Bush’s Personal Aide To Enroll at Business School", The Harvard Crimson, 22 May 2006. 
  6. ^ Economist.com (2006). News from the schools. Retrieved June 6, 2006.

[edit] Further reading