White House Office of the Staff Secretary


The Staff Secretary is a position in the White House Office responsible for managing paper flow to the President and circulating documents among senior staff for comment. It has been referred to as "the nerve center of the White House."
The Office of the Staff Secretary, along with its sub-offices—the Office of the Executive Clerk, the Office of Records Management, and the Office of Presidential Correspondence—is the largest of the White House Offices.

Function

Due to the high volume of important memos, meetings and decisions generated for the President's attention, the Staff Secretary is tasked with deciding which papers should go to the President's desk—and when the paper should be sent to him. These documents range from presidential decision memos and bills passed by Congress to drafts of speeches and samples of correspondence. The Staff Secretary relies on close coordination with Oval Office Operations and the Scheduling Office to decide when and how the President would like to receive documents.
The Staff Secretary's principal role is to review the incoming papers and determine which issues must reach the President. Secondary to this, Staff Sec determines who else in the administration should comment on the issue to give the President a full picture of the situation. Staff Sec then compiles the documents with the relevant commentary for the President's consumption.
Traditionally, the Staff Secretary is a position of great trust due to the influence it can wield over which information is allowed to reach the President, and who is given the opportunity to comment on those issues.
The Staff Secretary or a designated Assistant Staff Secretary always accompanies the President on any work-related travel.

History

The position was established under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, one of the recommendations of the Hoover Commission. Under Eisenhower, the first staff secretaries focused particularly on screening national security communications; in this role, Colonel Andrew J. Goodpaster was thought to overshadow the President's special assistant for national security.
With the appointment of businessman Jon Huntsman, Sr., as Staff Secretary in the Richard Nixon White House, the role was vastly expanded to absorb the functions of the Office of Management and Administration. These new roles included personnel management, finance and operations, services, facilities and furniture, and oversight of the Executive Clerk and Visitors Office.
Almost all of these responsibilities—as well as Presidential Correspondence—were spun off during the Carter Administration into the newly created Office of Administration.
During the Reagan Administration the Offices of the Staff Secretary and the Executive Clerk were reunited with Presidential Correspondence in a configuration that has remained fairly consistent through the subsequent presidencies.
President Trump's second White House Chief of Staff, John F. Kelly, reiterated the importance of the role of the Staff Secretary in managing the flow of information around the White House. His decision to allow a Staff Secretary with only an interim security clearance has been criticized.

List of Staff Secretaries

OfficeholderTerm startTerm endPresident
Pete CarrollJanuary 20, 1953September 17, 1954Dwight D. Eisenhower
Andrew GoodpasterOctober 1954January 20, 1961Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bill HartiganJanuary 20, 1961August 4, 1961John F. Kennedy
Ken ColeJanuary 20, 1969November 1969Richard Nixon
John BrownNovember 1969February 22, 1971Richard Nixon
Jon HuntsmanFebruary 22, 1971January 1, 1972Richard Nixon
Bruce KehrliJanuary 1, 1972May 1974Richard Nixon
Jerry JonesMay 1974May 1975Richard Nixon
Jerry JonesMay 1974May 1975Gerald Ford
James ConnorJune 1975January 20, 1977Gerald Ford
Richard HutchesonJanuary 20, 1977January 20, 1981Jimmy Carter
David GergenJanuary 20, 1981June 17, 1981Ronald Reagan
Dick DarmanJune 17, 1981February 1, 1985Ronald Reagan
David ChewFebruary 1, 1985April 1987Ronald Reagan
Rhett DawsonApril 1987Fall 1988Ronald Reagan
Jim CicconiJanuary 20, 1989December 1990George H. W. Bush
Phillip BradyJanuary 14, 1991January 20, 1993George H. W. Bush
John PodestaJanuary 20, 1993June 30, 1995Bill Clinton
Todd SternJune 30, 1995March 11, 1998Bill Clinton
Phillip CaplanMarch 11, 1998Spring 1999Bill Clinton
Sean MaloneySpring 19992000Bill Clinton
Lisel Loy2000January 20, 2001Bill Clinton
Harriet MiersJanuary 20, 2001June 6, 2003George W. Bush
Brett KavanaughJune 6, 2003May 30, 2006George W. Bush
Raul YanesJune 3, 2006January 20, 2009George W. Bush
Lisa BrownJanuary 20, 2009Early 2011Barack Obama
Raj DeEarly 2011April 2012Barack Obama
Douglas KramerApril 2012February 2013Barack Obama
Joani Walsh2014January 20, 2017Barack Obama
Rob PorterJanuary 20, 2017February 7, 2018Donald Trump
Derek LyonsFebruary 7, 2018
Acting: February 7, 2018 – June 6, 2018		presentDonald Trump