 Scott McClellan in the press room of the White House | |
| | |
|---|---|
| In office July 17, 2003 – April 26, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Ari Fleischer |
| Succeeded by | Tony Snow |
| | |
| Born | February 14, 1968  Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
Scott McClellan (born February 14, 1968) is a former White House Press Secretary (2003-2006) for President George W. Bush.
On April 19, 2006, McClellan announced that he would be leaving the Administration but that he would remain in the position of Press Secretary until a replacement was selected. Tony Snow was announced as McClellan's replacement on April 26, 2006.
Family
Born in Austin, Texas, McClellan is the youngest son of Carole Keeton Strayhorn, former Texas state comptroller and former 2006 independent Texas gubernatorial candidate, and attorney Barr McClellan. McClellan's brother Mark McClellan headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and formerly was Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration. McClellan is the grandson of the late W. Page Keeton, longtime Dean of the University of Texas School of Law and renowned expert in tort law.
Career
After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Texas Alpha Chapter, McClellan was the three-time campaign manager for his mother, former Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. In addition, he worked on political grassroots efforts and was the Chief of Staff to a Texas State Senator.
Karen Hughes, Governor Bush's communications director, hired him to be Bush's deputy press secretary. McClellan served as Governor Bush's traveling press secretary during the 2000 Presidential election. McClellan became White House Deputy Press Secretary in 2003. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, who stepped down as White House Press Secretary on July 15, 2003. McClellan announced his resignation as Press Secretary on April 19, 2006; on April 26, it was announced that Fox News pundit Tony Snow would succeed him in the position.
Involvement in cover up of Valerie Plame Affair
At a press briefing on October 10th, 2003, McClellan asserted that the allegations of Karl Rove's and Scooter Libby's involvment in the leak of CIA Valerie Plame's identity were false.[1] However, in excerpts from his book "What Happened" to be published in the spring of 2008 by Public Affairs Books, McClellan reveals that the statements were untrue.[2] From the excerpt:"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.
"There was one problem. It was not true.
"I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself."[3]
Info From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_McClellan
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