Scott McClellan
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| Scott McClellan | |
 Scott McClellan in the press room of the White House |
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| In office July 17, 2003 – April 26, 2006 |
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| Preceded by | Ari Fleischer |
| Succeeded by | Tony Snow |
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| Born | February 14, 1968 Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (until 2008), unknown/unaffiliated (2008-present) |
Scott McClellan (born February 14, 1968) is a former White House Press Secretary (2003-2006) for President George W. Bush. He replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in July 2003 and served until replaced by Tony Snow on April 26, 2006.
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[edit] Family
Born in Austin, Texas, McClellan is the youngest son of Carole Keeton Strayhorn, former Texas State Comptroller and former 2006 independent Texas gubernatorial candidate, and attorney Barr McClellan. McClellan's brother Mark McClellan headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and formerly was Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration. McClellan is the grandson of the late W. Page Keeton, longtime Dean of the University of Texas School of Law and renowned expert in tort law. He is single.
[edit] Career
After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Texas Alpha Chapter, McClellan was the three-time campaign manager for his mother. In addition, he worked on political grassroots efforts and was the Chief of Staff to a Texas State Senator.[1]
Karen Hughes, Governor Bush's communications director, hired McClellan to be Bush's deputy press secretary. McClellan served as Governor Bush's traveling press secretary during the 2000 Presidential election. McClellan became White House Deputy Press Secretary in 2003. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, who stepped down as White House Press Secretary on July 15, 2003. McClellan announced his resignation as Press Secretary on April 19, 2006. On April 26, it was announced that Fox News pundit Tony Snow would succeed him in the position.
[edit] Memoir and criticism of Bush administration
McClellan criticized the Bush administration in his 2008 memoir What Happened. ISBN 978-1586485566.. In the book, he accused Bush of "self-deception"[2] and of maintaining a "permanent campaign approach" to governing rather than making the best choices.[3] McClellan stopped short of saying that the president purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq, writing that the administration was not "employing out-and-out deception" to make the case for war in 2002,[4] though he did assert the administration relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of truth to sell the Iraq war.[5] His book was also critical of the press corps for being too accepting of the administration's perspective on the Iraq War[3] and of Condoleezza Rice for being "too accommodating" and overly careful about protecting her own reputation.[2]
[edit] Response to criticisms
The Bush administration responded through Press Secretary Dana Perino, who said, "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."[6]
Reaction from other Republicans repeated these themes of confusion, surprise and sadness, but were often more severe. Critics included former White House staffers, including Karl Rove, Dan Bartlett, Ari Fleischer and Mary Matalin, as well as former Senate Majority Leader and Presidential nominee Bob Dole. Fleischer and Matalin have claimed that McClellan had not shared similar doubts during his tenure in White House, and that if he had held such principled doubts then he ought not to have replaced Fleischer as Press Secretary. Both also claimed that McClellan was asked to leave the White House as he was not contributing to policy discussions. Matalin also called him "Judas", although she stepped back from calling the book a "betrayal".[7] Dole called McClellan a "greedy opportunist" and an example of "miserable creatures who don't have the guts to speak up or quit". McClellan has responded by stating that his role as White House Press Secretary was not to make policy, that he was inclined to give the Administration the "benefit of the doubt", and did not fully appreciate the circumstances until after leaving the "White House bubble."[8]
On May 28, 2008 Bill O'Reilly, presented a clip from an interview with Ari Fleischer (former white house spokesman). Fleischer, based on his prior contacts with Scott McClellan, suggested that the book was heavily influenced by the publisher's editor. The editor suggested making the book more negative in order to sell more copies.On May 29, 2008, McClellan stated on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann that "everything in the book is a clear reflection of my views and everything in the book is mine."[8] The same day, Karl Rove appeared on The O'Reilly Factor and said that McClellan's book had no evidentiary basis to support his wide-sweeping generalized assertions.
[edit] References
- ^ White House bio.
- ^ a b Bumiller, Elizabeth. "In Book, Ex-Spokesman Has Harsh Words for Bush", The New York Times, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ a b Allen, Mike. "Exclusive: McClellan whacks Bush, White House", The Politico, 2008-05-27. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Shear, Michael D. "Ex-Press Aide Writes That Bush Misled U.S. on Iraq", The Washington Post, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ "Ex-aide Scott McClellan rips Bush's Iraq 'propaganda'", Associated Press, 2008-5-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Loven, Jennifer. "White House calls McClellan's book sour grapes", Associated Press, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ FOX News's "Hannity & Colmes, 2008-05-28". Hannity & Colmes. 2008-05-28.
- ^ a b "Countdown, 2008-05-29". Countdown with Keith Olbermann. 2008-05-29.
[edit] External links
- Office of the Press Secretary, The White House (June 20, 2003). "Personnel Announcement (announcement of McClellan's promotion to Press Secretary)". Press release.
- Office of the Press Secretary, The White House (June 20, 2003). "President Thanks Fleischer, Taps McClellan as New Press Secretary (remarks from President Bush)". Press release.
- The White House. "White House Press Briefings by Date - 2005". Press release.
- Associate Press. "Text:President Bush and Scott McClellan (McClellan's resignation)", San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 2006.
- Doyle, Leonard. "Former aide accuses Bush on CIA leak", The Independent, 22 November 2007. "And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the Vice-President, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."
- Hornick, Ed. "McClellan backs some of Obama's agenda", CNN.com, 3 June 2008. "McClellan -- who has faced withering criticism from the White House and other Bush allies since his book was released -- declined to answer directly when asked if he still considers himself a Republican."
| Preceded by Ari Fleischer |
White House Press Secretary 2003 –2006 |
Succeeded by Tony Snow |
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