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White House Chief of Staff
The White House logo under Trump 2.0.jpg
Susie Wiles 2020.png
Incumbent
Susie Wiles

since January 20, 2025
Executive Office of the President
White House Office
Reports to President of the United States
Appointer President of the United States
Formation 1946 (Assistant to the President)
1961 (White House Chief of Staff)
First holder John R. Steelman
P20210824AS-0004 (51644632161)
President Joe Biden walks with Chief of Staff Ron Klain along the Colonnade of the White House.
Jimmy Carter meets with Jack Watson, cabinet secretary, in the Oval Office - NARA - 176952
Chief of Staff Jack Watson (1980–1981) meets with President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office.
George H. W. Bush on telephone
President George H. W. Bush sits at his desk in the Oval Office Study as Chief of Staff John Sununu stands nearby.
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks into the Oval Office as President Donald Trump reads over his notes, March 2017
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks into the Oval Office as President Donald J. Trump reads over his notes.
Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office 10-2009
President Barack Obama meets with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office.

The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a cabinet position in the federal government of the United States.

The chief of staff is a political appointee of the president of the United States who does not require Senate confirmation, and who serves at the pleasure of the President. While not a legally required role, all presidents since Harry S. Truman have appointed a chief of staff.

In the second administration of Donald Trump, the current chief of staff is Susie Wiles, who succeeded Jeff Zients on January 20, 2025. The chief of staff is the most senior political appointee in the White House. The position is widely recognized as one of great power and influence, owing to daily contact with the president of the United States and control of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Historical background

Originally, the duties now performed by the chief of staff belonged to the president's private secretary and were fulfilled by crucial confidantes and policy advisers such as George B. Cortelyou, Joseph Tumulty, and Louis McHenry Howe to presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt, respectively. The private secretary served as the president's de facto chief aide, in a role that combined personal and professional assignments of highly delicate and demanding natures, requiring great skill and utmost discretion. The job of gatekeeper and overseeing the president's schedule was separately delegated to the appointments secretary, as with aide Edwin "Pa" Watson.

From 1933 to 1939, as he greatly expanded the scope of the federal government's policies and powers in response to the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt relied on his 'Brain Trust' of top advisers. Although working directly for the president, they were often appointed to vacant positions in federal agencies and departments, whence they drew their salaries since the White House lacked statutory or budgetary authority to create staff positions. It was not until 1939, during Roosevelt's second term in office, that the foundations of the modern White House staff were created using a formal structure. Roosevelt was able to persuade Congress to approve the creation of the Executive Office of the President, which would report directly to the president. During World War II, Roosevelt created the position of "Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief" for his principal military adviser, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy.

In 1946, in response to the rapid growth of the U.S. government's executive branch, the position of "Assistant to the President of the United States" was established. Charged with the affairs of the White House, it was the immediate predecessor to the modern chief of staff. It was in 1953, under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that the president's preeminent assistant was designated the "White House Chief of Staff".

Assistant to the president became a rank generally shared by the chief of staff along with the other most senior presidential aides such as the White House counsel, the White House press secretary, and others. This new system did not catch on immediately however. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson still relied on their appointments secretaries instead, and it was not until the Nixon administration that the chief of staff took over maintenance of the President's schedule. This concentration of power in the Nixon and Ford White House (whose last chief of staff was Dick Cheney) led presidential candidate Jimmy Carter to campaign in 1976 with the promise that he would not appoint a chief of staff. And indeed, for the first two and a half years of his presidency, he appointed no one to the post.

Average tenure in office

The average tenure for a White House chief of staff is just over 18 months. The inaugural chief of staff, John R. Steelman, under Harry S. Truman, was the president's only chief of staff; Kenneth O'Donnell alone served in the position during John F. Kennedy's unfinished term of 34 months in office. Andrew Card and Denis McDonough each served at least one entire presidential term of office under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively.

Role

Chris Whipple, author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, loosely describes the role of a White House chief of staff through his interview with former president Barack Obama:

During the last days of his presidency, Barack Obama observed: "One of the things I've learned is that the big breakthroughs are typically the result of a lot of grunt work—just a whole lot of blocking and tackling." Grunt work is what chiefs of staff do.

The responsibilities of the chief of staff are both managerial and advisory and may include the following:

  • Selecting senior White House staffers and supervising their offices' activities
  • Managing and designing the overall structure of the White House staff system
  • Control the flow of people into the Oval Office
  • Manage the flow of information to and decisions from the Resolute desk (with the White House staff secretary)
  • Directing, managing and overseeing all policy development
  • Protecting the political interests of the president
  • Negotiating legislation and appropriating funds with United States Congress leaders, Cabinet secretaries, and extra-governmental political groups to implement the president's agenda
  • Advise on any and usually various issues set by the president

These responsibilities have recently extended to firing of senior staff members. In the case of Omarosa Manigault Newman, who published a tape she alleged was made in the Situation Room of her firing by Chief of Staff John Kelly, the chief of staff said that his decision for her departure was non-negotiable and that "the staff and everyone on the staff works for me and not the president."

Richard Nixon's first chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, garnered a reputation in Washington for the iron hand he wielded in the position. He was a rigid gatekeeper who would frequently meet with administration officials in place of the president, and then report to Nixon on the officials' talking points himself.

List of White House chiefs of staff

Image Name Start End Duration President
Steelman-Conciliation-Service (cropped).jpg Steelman, JohnJohn Steelman December 12, 1946 January 20, 1953 6 years, 39 days Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman
(1945–1953)
GLSAAdams (cropped).jpg Adams, ShermanSherman Adams January 20, 1953 October 7, 1958 5 years, 260 days Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1953–1961)
Wilton Persons taking the oath of office (cropped).png Persons, WiltonWilton Persons October 7, 1958 January 20, 1961 2 years, 105 days
Kenny O'Donnell (cropped).jpg O'Donnell, KennethKenneth O'Donnell
De facto
January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963 2 years, 306 days Kennedy, John F.John F. Kennedy
(1961–1963)
Walter Jenkins 1963 (cropped).jpg Jenkins, WalterWalter Jenkins
De facto
November 22, 1963 October 14, 1964 327 days Johnson, Lyndon B.Lyndon B. Johnson
(1963–1969)
Bill Moyers clock 21 July 1965 (cropped).jpg Moyers, BillBill Moyers
De facto
October 14, 1964 July 8, 1965 267 days
Jack Valenti Portrait (cropped).jpeg Valenti, JackJack Valenti
De facto
July 8, 1965 June 1, 1966 328 days
Portrait officiel de W. Marvin Watson (cropped).jpg Watson, MarvinMarvin Watson
De facto
June 1, 1966 April 26, 1968 1 year, 330 days
James Robert Jones (cropped).jpg Jones, JamesJames Jones
De facto
April 26, 1968 January 20, 1969 269 days
H R Haldeman, 1971 portrait (cropped) 2.png Haldeman, BobBob Haldeman January 20, 1969 April 30, 1973 4 years, 100 days Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon
(1969–1974)
Vacant April 30, 1973 May 4, 1973 4 days
Alexander Haig photo portrait as White House Chief of Staff black and white (slightly cropped).jpg Haig, AlAl Haig May 4, 1973 September 21, 1974 1 year, 140 days
Ford, GeraldGerald Ford
(1974–1977)
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General George S. Brown at a press conference in the Pentagon (cropped).jpg Rumsfeld, DonaldDonald Rumsfeld September 21, 1974 November 20, 1975 1 year, 60 days
Richard Cheney with another member of the Ford administration staff at the White House (cropped).jpg Cheney, DickDick Cheney November 20, 1975 January 20, 1977 1 year, 61 days
Vacant January 20, 1977 July 18, 1979 2 years, 179 days Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter
(1977–1981)
Hamilton Jordan - NARA - 173802 (cropped).jpg Jordan, HamHam Jordan July 18, 1979 June 11, 1980 329 days
Watson 1977 (cropped).jpg Watson, JackJack Watson June 11, 1980 January 20, 1981 223 days
James Baker, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff ME671-1 (cropped).jpg Baker, JamesJames Baker January 20, 1981 February 4, 1985 4 years, 15 days Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan
(1981–1989)
Donald Thomas Regan, Secretary of the Treasury ME352-10 (cropped) 3.jpg Regan, DonDon Regan February 4, 1985 February 27, 1987 2 years, 23 days
Howard Baker 1989 (cropped).jpg Baker, HowardHoward Baker February 27, 1987 July 1, 1988 1 year, 125 days
Kenneth Duberstein (cropped).jpg Duberstein, KenKen Duberstein July 1, 1988 January 20, 1989 203 days
GovJohnSununu1 (cropped).jpg Sununu, JohnJohn Sununu January 20, 1989 December 16, 1991 2 years, 330 days Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)
Samuel K. Skinner (2009-09-10) (cropped).jpg Skinner, SamuelSamuel Skinner December 16, 1991 August 23, 1992 251 days
James A. Baker III, U.S. Secretary of State (2380044355) (cropped).jpg Baker, JamesJames Baker August 23, 1992 January 20, 1993 150 days
Menem con Thomas McLarty (cropped).jpg McLarty, MackMack McLarty January 20, 1993 July 17, 1994 1 year, 178 days Clinton, BillBill Clinton
(1993–2001)
Leon Panetta, informal photo (cropped).jpg Panetta, LeonLeon Panetta July 17, 1994 January 20, 1997 2 years, 187 days
President Obama meets with Fiscal Commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson (cropped).jpg Bowles, ErskineErskine Bowles January 20, 1997 October 20, 1998 1 year, 273 days
John Podesta official portrait.jpg Podesta, JohnJohn Podesta October 20, 1998 January 20, 2001 2 years, 92 days
Andrew Card Visits HUD - DPLA - 7bc5bd60c24e35fa59744b7f7736cb26 (cropped) (cropped).jpg Card, AndyAndy Card January 20, 2001 April 14, 2006 5 years, 84 days Bush, George W.George W. Bush
(2001–2009)
Assignment- 48-DPA-N OPM Pres Awards) President's Quality Awards 2005 ceremony, (honoring progress made by federal agencies in improving management systems and work processes, at Wa - DPLA - 1a5f294a5afe6060b5f7ec481aa3d2e5 (cropped).JPG Bolten, JoshJosh Bolten April 14, 2006 January 20, 2009 2 years, 281 days
Rahm Emanuel, official photo portrait color (cropped) 2.jpg Emanuel, RahmRahm Emanuel January 20, 2009 October 1, 2010 1 year, 254 days Obama, BarackBarack Obama
(2009–2017)
Pete Rouse in the Oval Office (cropped).jpg Rouse, PetePete Rouse
Acting
October 1, 2010 January 13, 2011 104 days
William M. Daley official portrait (cropped) 2.jpg Daley, BillBill Daley January 13, 2011 January 27, 2012 1 year, 14 days
Jacob Lew official portrait (cropped) 2.jpg Lew, JackJack Lew January 27, 2012 January 20, 2013 359 days
Secretary McDonough, official photo (cropped) 2.jpg McDonough, DenisDenis McDonough January 20, 2013 January 20, 2017 4 years, 0 days
Reince Priebus (32319663313) (cropped).jpg Priebus, ReinceReince Priebus January 20, 2017 July 31, 2017 192 days Trump, DonaldDonald Trump
(2017–2021)
John Kelly official Transition portrait (cropped).jpg Kelly, JohnJohn Kelly July 31, 2017 January 2, 2019 1 year, 155 days
Mick Mulvaney official photo (cropped) 3.jpg Mulvaney, MickMick Mulvaney
Acting
January 2, 2019 March 31, 2020 1 year, 89 days
Mark Meadows, Official Portrait, 113th Congress (cropped) 3.jpg Meadows, MarkMark Meadows March 31, 2020 January 20, 2021 295 days
Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff (slightly cropped).jpg Klain, RonRon Klain January 20, 2021 February 7, 2023 2 years, 18 days Biden, JoeJoe Biden
(2021–2025)
Jeff Zients, WHCOS (cropped).jpg Zients, JeffJeff Zients February 8, 2023 January 20, 2025 1 year, 347 days
Susie Wiles 2020.png Wiles, SusieSusie Wiles January 20, 2025 Incumbent 13 days Trump, DonaldDonald Trump
(2025–present)

See also

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