White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs
Encyclopedia
The Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs is a unit of the White House Office
within the Executive Office of the President of the United States
. It was formerly known as the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Under President Barack Obama
, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett
oversees the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, with Jon Carson as Director of Public Engagement and Cecilia Muñoz
as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
, Charles Colson
performed public liaison work. President Gerald Ford
first formalized the public liaison office after he took office in 1974, giving Nixon administration veteran William J. Baroody, Jr. a mandate for OPL to become "an instrument for projecting the image of a truly open administration (in contrast to Nixon’s) and to secure Ford’s reelection. Under Baroody’s direction, the office incorporated outreach efforts with consumers and women that had been located elsewhere in the White House, and the overall staff grew to approximately thirty. At the core of its activities was an aggressive campaign of regional conferences that enabled the nation’s first un-elected president to tour the country in a campaign-like atmosphere and prepare the way for an eventual reelection campaign."
Some OPL heads used the office to push their own agendas. Midge Costanza
used her time at OPL to broaden the influence of gays and lesbians in White House policy". Faith Ryan Whittlesey used her time at OPL to increase the influence of the religious right and anti-communist groups, such as the Contras
in Central America.
Future cabinet secretary and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole
headed OPL under President Ronald Reagan
from 1981-1983. Directors during Bill Clinton
's administration included future cabinet secretary Alexis Herman
, Maria Echaveste
, Minyon Moore
and future John Kerry
campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill
.
Under the Obama administration, the Office of Public Engagement has been referred to as "the front door to the White House, through which everyone can participate and inform the work of the President." In May 2009, Obama continued this theme and renamed the Office of Public Liaison the Office of Public Engagement.
In April 2009, actor Kal Penn
was named an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. His role was said to include outreach to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and the arts community. Prior to the appointment, he was a permanent cast member in the television series House
, and his acceptance required him to be written out of the series.
since being elected are an example of this policy at work. The Office also acts as a cheerleader for the administration and seeks to ensure, along with the Office of Communications
, the coordination of the administration message amongst different departments in order to ensure full and balanced exposure.
The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs works closely with state and local officials elected by the American people to ensure America's citizens and their elected officials have a government that works effectively for them and with them. Due to the importance that state and local governments are to the creation and implementation of national policy, it is especially important for the Office to provide a readily accessible method of direct communication for local officials to discuss and raise awareness of local concerns.
Office of Public Engagement
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
White House Office
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, which was temporarily Pete Rouse, replaced on January 6, 2010 with the permanent appointment of William M. Daley, who is also...
within the Executive Office of the President of the United States
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
. It was formerly known as the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Under President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader...
oversees the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, with Jon Carson as Director of Public Engagement and Cecilia Muñoz
Cecilia Muñoz
Cecilia Muñoz has served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House since January 21, 2009. A longtime civil rights advocate, she worked as Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza , a nonprofit organization...
as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.
History
The Office of Public Liaison has been responsible for communicating and interacting with various interest groups. Under President Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Charles Colson
Charles Colson
Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson is a Christian leader, cultural commentator, and former Special Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973....
performed public liaison work. President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
first formalized the public liaison office after he took office in 1974, giving Nixon administration veteran William J. Baroody, Jr. a mandate for OPL to become "an instrument for projecting the image of a truly open administration (in contrast to Nixon’s) and to secure Ford’s reelection. Under Baroody’s direction, the office incorporated outreach efforts with consumers and women that had been located elsewhere in the White House, and the overall staff grew to approximately thirty. At the core of its activities was an aggressive campaign of regional conferences that enabled the nation’s first un-elected president to tour the country in a campaign-like atmosphere and prepare the way for an eventual reelection campaign."
Some OPL heads used the office to push their own agendas. Midge Costanza
Midge Costanza
Margaret Costanza , widely known as "Midge", was an American Presidential advisor, social and political activist...
used her time at OPL to broaden the influence of gays and lesbians in White House policy". Faith Ryan Whittlesey used her time at OPL to increase the influence of the religious right and anti-communist groups, such as the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
in Central America.
Future cabinet secretary and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole
Elizabeth Dole
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....
headed OPL under President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
from 1981-1983. Directors during Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's administration included future cabinet secretary Alexis Herman
Alexis Herman
Alexis Margaret Herman was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Prior to her appointment, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.-Background:The daughter of politician Alex Herman and schoolteacher Gloria...
, Maria Echaveste
Maria Echaveste
Maria Echaveste , is a former U.S. presidential advisor to Bill Clinton and White House Deputy Chief of Staff under the second Clinton administration. She is one of the highest-ranking Latinas to have served in a presidential administration...
, Minyon Moore
Minyon Moore
Minyon Moore in Chicago, Illinois is a founder of America Coming Together, and heads Dewey Square Group's state and local practice...
and future John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill
Mary Beth Cahill
Mary Beth Cahill is an American political figure, who served as the campaign manager of Senator John Kerry's campaign for the Democratic nomination for President...
.
Under the Obama administration, the Office of Public Engagement has been referred to as "the front door to the White House, through which everyone can participate and inform the work of the President." In May 2009, Obama continued this theme and renamed the Office of Public Liaison the Office of Public Engagement.
In April 2009, actor Kal Penn
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
was named an associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. His role was said to include outreach to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and the arts community. Prior to the appointment, he was a permanent cast member in the television series House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, and his acceptance required him to be written out of the series.
Function
The Office of Public Engagement seeks to allow the views of the ordinary American citizen to be more readily heard within the administration. The Office also seeks to coordinate events that bring members of the administration in contact with members of the public. The "town-hall" style meetings held by President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
since being elected are an example of this policy at work. The Office also acts as a cheerleader for the administration and seeks to ensure, along with the Office of Communications
White House Communications Director
The White House Director of Communications, also known as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the President of the United States, and is responsible for developing and promoting the agenda of the President and leading its media campaign...
, the coordination of the administration message amongst different departments in order to ensure full and balanced exposure.
The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs works closely with state and local officials elected by the American people to ensure America's citizens and their elected officials have a government that works effectively for them and with them. Due to the importance that state and local governments are to the creation and implementation of national policy, it is especially important for the Office to provide a readily accessible method of direct communication for local officials to discuss and raise awareness of local concerns.
Key staff
Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs: Valerie JarrettValerie Jarrett
Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader...
- Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement: Michael Strautmanis
Office of Public Engagement
- Director of Public Engagement: Jon Carson
- Deputy Director of Public Engagement: Brian Bond
- Deputy Director of Public Engagement: Buffy Wicks
- Associate Director of Public Engagement (Youth, Arts and Asian American & Pacific Islander Communities): Kal PennKal PennKalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
- Associate Director of Public Engagement (Youth, Arts and Asian American & Pacific Islander Communities): Kal Penn
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Director of Intergovernmental Affairs: Cecilia MuñozCecilia MuñozCecilia Muñoz has served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House since January 21, 2009. A longtime civil rights advocate, she worked as Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza , a nonprofit organization...
- Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (Mayors): David Agnew
- Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (Governor): Shaun McGrath
- Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (County Officials and Statewide Electeds): Michael Blake
- Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (State Legislators): Nick Rathod
- Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (Tribal Governments): Jodi Gillette
- Staff Assistant (Lt. Governors): Michael Block
- Staff Assistant (City Council Members): John Oxtoby
List of Assistants
The following have held the office of Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs (Public Liaison)George H. W. Bush
- David DemarestDavid DemarestDavid Demarest is the Vice President for Public Affairs, Stanford University and a former Republican operative who worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.-Career:...
- Cecile B. KremerCecile B. KremerCecile B. Kremer is a Republican operative who has worked for United States Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.-Career:Cecile B. Kremer was a staff assistant to President Reagan, serving as an advance representative in the Office of Presidential Advance from 1981 until 1985. She served...
- Barbara G. KilbergBobbie KilbergBobbie Kilberg is a Republican operative who has worked for Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W...
Ronald W. Reagan
- Rebecca Range
- Mari MasengMari MasengMari Maseng is a Republican advisor who has worked for President Ronald Reagan and Senator Robert Dole.-Career:Maseng served President Reagan in the White House on three separate occasions. She was Assistant to the President for Communications from June 1988 to January 1989...
- Linda ChavezLinda ChavezLinda Chavez is an American author, commentator, and radio talk show host. She is also a Fox News analyst, Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, has a syndicated column that appears in newspapers nationwide each week, and sits on the Board of Directors of two Fortune 1000 companies:...
- Faith Ryan Whittlesey
- Elizabeth Hanford Dole