White House Communications Director

The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is responsible for developing and promoting the agenda of the president and leading its media campaign.

White House Communications Director
Incumbent Steven Cheung since January 20, 2025
Executive Office of the President White House Office
Reports to	White House Chief of Staff
Appointer	President of the United States
Formation	1969 (White House Office) 1974 (White House Office of the Press Secretary)
First holder	Herbert G. Klein

The director, along with their staff, works on major political speeches such as the inaugural address and the State of the Union Address. The communications director, who is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the president, without the need for United States Senate confirmation, is usually given an office in the West Wing of the White House.

History

The White House Office of Communications was established by Herbert G. Klein in January 1969 during the Nixon administration.^[1][2] It was separate from the Office of the Press Secretary from 1969 to 1974.^[3]

Key staff

• Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and White House Communications Director: Steven Cheung^[4]

• Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and White House Press Secretary: Karoline Leavitt^[5]

List of directors

Image	Name	Start	End	Duration	President
	Herb Klein[6]	January 20, 1969	July 1, 1973	4 years, 162 days		Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
	Ken Clawson	January 30, 1974	August 9, 1974	191 days
		August 9, 1974	November 4, 1974	87 days		Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
	Jerry Warren[7]	November 4, 1974	August 15, 1975	284 days
	Margita White[8]	August 15, 1975	July 12, 1976	332 days
	David Gergen[9]	July 12, 1976	January 20, 1977	192 days
	Gerald Rafshoon	July 1, 1978	August 14, 1979	1 year, 44 days		Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
	Frank Ursomarso[10][11]	February 23, 1981	June 17, 1981	114 days		Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
	David Gergen[12]	June 17, 1981	January 15, 1984	2 years, 212 days
	Michael McManus[7]	January 15, 1984	February 6, 1985	1 year, 22 days
	Pat Buchanan	February 6, 1985	March 1, 1987	2 years, 23 days
	Jack Koehler[13]	March 1, 1987	March 13, 1987	11 days
	Tom Griscom	April 2, 1987	July 1, 1988	1 year, 90 days
	Mari Maseng Will	July 1, 1988	January 20, 1989	203 days
	David Demarest	January 20, 1989	August 23, 1992	3 years, 216 days		George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
	Margaret Tutwiler[14]	August 23, 1992	January 20, 1993	150 days
	George Stephanopoulos	January 20, 1993	June 7, 1993	138 days		Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
	Mark Gearan[15]	June 7, 1993	August 14, 1995	2 years, 68 days
	Don Baer	August 14, 1995	July 31, 1997	1 year, 351 days
	Ann Lewis	July 31, 1997	March 10, 1999	1 year, 222 days
	Loretta Ucelli	March 10, 1999	January 20, 2001	1 year, 316 days
	Karen Hughes	January 20, 2001	October 2, 2001	255 days		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
	Dan Bartlett[16]	October 2, 2001	January 5, 2005	3 years, 95 days
	Nicolle Wallace	January 5, 2005	July 24, 2006	1 year, 200 days
	Kevin Sullivan	July 24, 2006	January 20, 2009	2 years, 180 days
	Ellen Moran	January 20, 2009	April 21, 2009	91 days		Barack Obama (2009–2017)
	Anita Dunn Acting	April 21, 2009	November 30, 2009	223 days
	Dan Pfeiffer	November 30, 2009	January 25, 2013	3 years, 56 days
	Jen Palmieri	January 25, 2013	April 1, 2015	2 years, 66 days
	Jen Psaki	April 1, 2015	January 20, 2017	1 year, 294 days
	Sean Spicer Acting	January 20, 2017	March 6, 2017	45 days		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
	Michael Dubke[17][18]	March 6, 2017	June 2, 2017	88 days
	Sean Spicer Acting[18][19]	June 2, 2017[20][21]	July 21, 2017[22]	49 days
	Anthony Scaramucci[23]	July 21, 2017[24]	July 31, 2017[25][26]	11 days
	Hope Hicks[27][28]	August 16, 2017 Acting: August 16 – September 12, 2017	March 29, 2018[29]	225 days
	Bill Shine[30]	July 5, 2018	March 8, 2019	246 days
	Stephanie Grisham[31]	July 1, 2019	April 7, 2020	281 days
	Kate Bedingfield[32][33]	January 20, 2021	March 1, 2023	2 years, 40 days		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
	Ben LaBolt[12]	March 1, 2023	January 20, 2025	1 year, 325 days
	Steven Cheung	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	37 days		Donald Trump (2025–present)

References

1. "White House Unit Takes on New Life", The Washington Post, November 26, 1973, p. 9.
2. Judiciary, United States Congress House Committee on the (1973). Impeachment: Selected Materials. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160577031.
3. "Press Operations in White House Revised, With Politics Ruled Out", The New York Times, August 17, 1974, p. 15.
4. McGraw, Meridith; Bade, Rachael (November 15, 2024). "Trump to tap campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung as communications director". POLITICO. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
5. Moore, Elena (November 15, 2024). "Trump picks Karoline Leavitt to be youngest White House press secretary in history". NPR. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
6. "Richard Nixon: Letter Accepting the Resignation of Herbert G. Klein as Director of Communications for the Executive Branch". presidency.ucsb.edu.
7. Kumar, Martha Joynt (July 6, 2007). Managing the President's Message: The White House Communications Operation. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801886522 – via Google Books.
8. Shabecoff, Philip (July 13, 1976). "Ford Shifts and Expands Press Staff". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
9. "Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum". fordlibrarymuseum.gov.
10. "URSOMARSO, FRANK: Files, 1981 (3.1 l.ft.; Box 1-8)" (PDF).
11. "Ronald Reagan: Appointment of Frank A. Ursomarso as Director of the White House Office of Communications". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017.
12. "Key Reagan Administration Officials". reagan.utexas.edu. Archived from the original on March 4, 2005.
13. "Letter Accepting the Resignation of John O. Koehler as Assistant to the President and Director of Communications". reaganlibrary.archives.gov. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016.
14. Appointment of Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler as Assistant to the President for Communications, gpo.gov.
15. "William J. Clinton: Press Briefing by David Gergen and Mark Gearan". presidency.ucsb.edu.
16. "George W. Bush: Statement by the Press Secretary: Bartlett Named White House Communications Director". presidency.ucsb.edu.
17. "President Donald J. Trump Announces White House Staff Appointments", whitehouse.gov, March 6, 2017.
18. "Mysterious disappearance of Donald Trump's mouthpiece Sean Spicer". The New Zealand Herald. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
19. The White House (July 21, 2017), Press Briefing with Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved July 21, 2017
20. Herman, Steve (July 21, 2017). "Shakeup Puts Different Face on White House Communications". VOA. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
21. "Mysterious disappearance of Donald Trump's mouthpiece Sean Spicer". NZ Herald. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
22. Shen, Lucinda (July 21, 2017). "Anthony Scaramucci Thinks the White House Is About to Have a 'Phenomenal Relationship' With the Press". Fortune. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
23. Shear, Michael D.; Thrush, Glenn; Haberman, Maggie (July 31, 2017). "John Kelly, Asserting Authority, Fires Anthony Scaramucci". The New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
24. Santos, Amanda Proença (July 31, 2017). "Scaramucci Sets New Record for Shortest Term as Communications Director". NBC News. Retrieved August 14, 2017. Though President Donald Trump appointed Scaramucci to the role 10 days ago, he only held the position for six days thanks to an official start date of July 25.
25. "White House Holds Press Briefing after Anthony Scaramucci Resigns as Communications Director". Time. July 31, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
26. "Anthony Scaramucci: Five top tips to lose a job in 10 days". BBC News. August 1, 2017. Anthony Scaramucci had not yet made it to his official start date before he was fired
27. "Hope Hicks tapped for interim White House communications director". Fox News. August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
28. Ballhaus, Rebecca (September 12, 2017). "Hope Hicks Named Permanent White House Communications Director". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
29. Rogers, Katie; Haberman, Maggie (March 29, 2018). "Hope Hicks is Gone, and It's Not Clear Who Can Replace Her". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
30. "Ex-Fox News exec Bill Shine to join White House". The Hill. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
31. Wise, Alana (April 7, 2020). "White House Press Secretary Grisham Moves Back To First Lady's Office". NPR. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
32. "Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director". President-Elect Joe Biden. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
33. "Kate Bedingfield to Depart the White House after over 3 Years Leading the President's Communications Operation". July 6, 2022.