US President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday the appointment of Ron Klain, his former assistant, as White House chief of staff. In this capacity, Klain will oversee the executive office of the president and serve as a senior advisor.
In addition to supporting President-elect, Klain will work to build a diverse, experienced and talented team to help President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris meet the urgent challenges facing the country, according to a press release.
“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years we’ve worked together, even as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst recessions in our history in 2009 and then weathered an overwhelming public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said.
“His deep and varied experience and ability to work with people from across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we face this time of crisis and bring our country together again,” Biden said.
Klain was most recently a senior advisor to Biden for the campaign and previously served Biden in various roles, including chief of staff when he became vice president. Klain is also known for his role as the White House Ebola response coordinator at the height of the public health crisis.
Klain said: “It is the honor of a lifetime to serve President-elect Biden in this role, and I am honored by his trust. I look forward to helping him and the vice president-elect build a talented and diverse team to serve in the White House, as we address his ambitious change agenda and seek to heal the gaps in our country. ”
Concluding his work coordinating the US response, President Obama said Klain had taken on “a challenge that many called insurmountable and, by leading the team responsible for tremendous progress, helped remind the world of what makes the United States. United be exceptional. ” Previously, in addition to his work with then-Vice President Biden, Klain served as Vice President Al Gore’s chief of staff, chief of staff and counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno, and chief of staff for the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee. Klain was also an associate attorney for President Clinton and was in charge of the judicial selection. Through his work on the judicial committee and in the executive branch, he has played a role in the selection or confirmation of eight justices to the Supreme Court.
As an advisor on several presidential campaigns, Klain has worked for Obama and Clinton, and Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton. Klain graduated from Harvard Law School, was editor of the Harvard Law Review, and won the Sears Award for Highest GPA in 1985. He graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University, where he works as an adjunct professor.
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