White House Press Secretary
The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and executives, as well as government policies.
White House Press Secretary
March 4, 1929
The press secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and issues the administration's reactions to developments around the world. The press secretary interacts with the media and the White House press corps on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing. The press secretary serves by the appointment and at the pleasure of the president of the United States; the office does not require the advice and consent of the United States Senate; however, because of the frequent briefings given to the global media, who in turn inform the public, the position is a prominent non-Cabinet post.
On May 13, 2022, Karine Jean-Pierre replaced Jen Psaki and became the 35th White House press secretary.[2]
Evaluations[edit]
Michael J. Towle weighs four factors determining the success and popularity of all seven press secretaries 1953 to 1980. Experts generally agree that James C. Hagerty, under Eisenhower, set the standard by which later press secretaries are judged. Under Carter, Jody Powell followed the Hagerty model, and was also judged successful. For Towle the first factor is the importance and centrality of the press secretary to the administration. Insiders who participate in high-level decision-making do better at explaining policy; the press has less confidence in outsiders, Towle concludes. The second factor is how tightly the office is controlled by the president. The media pays more attention to secretaries who are allowed to elaborate, and expound on the president's thoughts, and answer probing questions. Third, does the president signal confidence in the press secretary. Fourth is the respect the secretary has won from the press in terms of knowledge, credibility, clarity, promptness and ability to provide information on a wide range of policies.[13]
Towle concludes that history had judged Hagerty and Salinger as successful. Lyndon Johnson confided in Salinger but distrusted the media and hobbled his next three press secretaries. Nixon throughout his career saw the press as the enemy, and the media responded in hostile fashion, leaving the young inexperienced Ronald Ziegler with a hopeless challenge. President Ford's first secretary was Jerald F. terHorst – he resigned in protest when Ford pardoned Nixon. Next came Ronald Nessen, who quickly acquired a reputation as inept, uninformed or noncredible, especially on foreign affairs. At the opposite extreme, the successful Jody Powell had been a close advisor to Carter for years, and could explain clearly how the president reasoned about issues. Carter said he "probably knows me better than anyone except my wife."[13]
The press secretary is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the president's administration and around the world, and interacting with the media, generally in a daily press briefing. The information includes items such as a summary of the president's schedule for the day, whom the president has seen, or had communication and the official position of the administration on the news of the day.
The press secretary traditionally also fields questions from the White House press corps in briefings and press conferences, which are generally televised, and "press gaggles", which are on-the-record briefings without video recording, although transcripts are usually made available.
The position has often been filled by individuals from news media backgrounds: