Dan Bartlett

Daniel Joseph Bartlett (born June 1, 1971) is a former Counselor to the President in the administration of George W. Bush. The position was previously held by Karen Hughes, who vacated the post in 2002. On June 1, 2007, Bartlett announced that would be leaving the White House on July 5. He was replaced by Ed Gillespie, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Virginia in 2017.

Dan Bartlett
Counselor to the President
In office January 5, 2005 – July 5, 2007
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Karen Hughes (2002)
Succeeded by	Ed Gillespie
White House Communications Director
In office October 2, 2001 – January 5, 2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Karen Hughes
Succeeded by	Nicolle Wallace
Personal details
Born	Daniel Joseph Bartlett June 1, 1971 Waukegan, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Texas at Austin (BA)

Personal

Bartlett grew up in Rockwall, Texas[1] and is a 1989 graduate of Rockwall High School in Rockwall, Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

In 2000, Bartlett married Allyson Elizabeth Sikes (born 1975). The couple has four sons and has resided since 2013 in Rogers, Arkansas.

Career

Bartlett, Brett Kavanaugh, Condoleezza Rice, and Mike Gerson review President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech in 2004

Bartlett worked on George W. Bush's first campaign for governor in 1994, when Bush unseated Ann W. Richards. He was appointed as deputy to the Policy Director in the Governor's office and was Issues Director for Bush's 1998 gubernatorial re-election campaign.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bartlett was the Director of Rapid Response for Bush for President; he later worked as a deputy to presidential advisor Karen Hughes before being named White House Communications Director. On January 5, 2005, the White House announced that Bartlett would assume the role of Counselor to the President, which allows him to focus more broadly on strategic communication and the formulation of policy. He has also worked for Karl Rove's political consulting firm. On June 1, 2007, Bartlett announced his resignation as Counsel to the President.[2]

On October 28, 2007, Public Strategies, Inc., a business advisory firm, announced they had hired Bartlett as a senior strategist.[3]

In January 2009, Bartlett was named an adjunct faculty member at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, at which he taught a seminar on media and politics.[4]

In March 2009, Bartlett was named president and CEO of Public Strategies.[5]

In May 2013, Walmart announced that Bartlett would become the company's new executive vice president of Corporate Affairs in late June.[6]

Controversies

Following the July 6, 2003, editorial by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Bartlett (with Ari Fleischer) pushed reporters to pursue who in the CIA sent him to Niger, but stopped short of revealing that his wife worked for the agency.[7]

At the end of 2007 during an interview with Evan Smith published in the January 2008 Texas Monthly, Bartlett implied some conservative bloggers, such as Hugh Hewitt, were unfiltered mouthpieces for the GOP and the Bush White House.

I mean, talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. It's a very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we've cultivated and have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on.[8]

In May 2008, Bartlett appeared on various media outlets casting aspersions on the contentions raised by Scott McClellan in his book What Happened that the administration had repeatedly "shaded the truth" in connection with justifying the Iraq War, and describing the role that various administration officials played in the Valerie Plame leak case.[9] In a May 2008 telephone interview with CNN, Bartlett "asserted that McClellan did not play a major role in key events, noting that the former aide was serving as deputy press secretary for domestic issues during the run-up to the war in Iraq, raising questions about how McClellan could claim the President used 'propaganda' to sell the war."[10]

Footnotes

1. Youthful Bush aide climbing ranks as Hughes moving out - Plainview Daily Herald Retrieved April 16, 2018.
2. Rutenberg, Jim (June 2, 2007). "Bush's Longest-Serving Aide Plans to Depart". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
3. "Dan Bartlett to Join Public Strategies, Inc". Public Strategies. October 28, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
4. "Former top Bush aide joins LBJ School faculty". Austin Business Journal. January 21, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
5. "Dan Bartlett named CEO of Public Strategies". Austin Business Journal. March 9, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
6. "Dan Bartlett Joins Walmart as Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs". Walmart. May 22, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
7. Dickerson, John (February 7, 2006). "Where's My Subpoena? - Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me". Slate. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
8. Interview by Smith, Evan (January 1, 2008). "TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS: Dan Bartlett". Texas Monthly. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
9. Celizic, Mike (May 29, 2008). "McClellan: Plame leak case was turning point". MSNBC. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
10. Henry, Ed (May 28, 2008). "Bartlett rips McClellan, calls allegation 'total crap'". CNN. Retrieved August 9, 2009.

External links

• White House biography
• Public Strategies Inc
• Appearances on C-SPAN