Jim Messina (political staffer)

Jim Messina


White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
In office January 20, 2009 – January 26, 2011
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Blake Gottesman
Succeeded by	Alyssa Mastromonaco
Personal details
Born	1969 (age 46–47) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Montana, Missoula

Jim Messina (born 1969)^[1] is a political adviser who was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and served as the campaign manager for Obama's successful 2012 re-election campaign.^[2]^[3]^[4] He is also a senior adviser to the UK Conservative Party.^[5]^[6]

Early life, education, and early career

Messina was born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Boise, Idaho. He graduated from Boise High School in Boise, Idaho in 1988 and earned his B.A. in political science and journalism^[7] from the University of Montana in 1993.^[8] In 1993, as a college senior, Messina managed Democratic Mayor Dan Kemmis's successful re-election bid for Mayor of Missoula, Montana.^[9] Messina has Italian ancestry; in 2013 he received the Machiavelli Award as the Italian American Democrat of the Year.^[10]

Political career

1990s

In 1995, Messina was hired by Democratic U.S. Senator Max Baucus of Montana. They describe their relationship as father-son-like. In 1999, he became Chief of Staff to Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York.

2000s

In 2002, he ran Baucus's 2002 re-election campaign. Messina "refused to let Baucus attend any debate that didn’t include a third-party candidate whose skin had turned blue from drinking an anti-infection solution, a distraction to help take attention away from the credible Republican candidate."^[11] Messina was purportedly responsible for creating an infamously homophobic television ad for Baucus.^[12]

He then became Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, he made $80,510 and in 2005 made $128,936^[13]^[14]

In 2005, he re-united with Baucus and became his Chief of Staff. Messina was integral in devising the Democratic strategy that prevented the allowance of private accounts within Social Security.^[15] Messina was credited by the New York Times Magazine as the brains behind the defeat of President Bush’s plan.^[16]

Messina has also been involved with other political campaigns from Alaska to New York, including serving as an advisor to Montana State Senator Jon Tester's successful election in 2006.^[15]

Messina was hired as National Chief of Staff for the Obama campaign in the 2008 general election.^[17] He was credited with leading the efforts to staff up for the general election and controlled a $750 million budget, which he told the New York Times magazine was like “getting the keys to a fucking Ferrari.”^[18] After Obama won, Messina was named Director of Personnel for the Obama-Biden Transition team, helping Obama pick his cabinet.^[19]

Messina became President Obama's White House Deputy Chief of Staff and earned the nickname "the fixer."^[20] Dan Pfeiffer calls Messina “the most powerful person in Washington that you haven’t heard of.”^[21] He also said that Messina and Rahm Emanuel had a "crazy relationship" and explained that “You’d be in a meeting, and Rahm would bark out that something needed to be done; Jim would disappear from Rahm’s office, pop through the door a few minutes later and say, ‘Got it!’ or ‘Got him!’”^[22] Messina was integral to the passage on the Affordable Care Act and was widely credited with the effort to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.^[23]^[24]

2010s

Messina celebrates Obama's reelection in November 2012.

Messina was Obama's campaign manager during the 2012 Presidential Election. For his work, the American Political Consultant’s association named him the International Strategist of the Year.^[25] In January 2013, Messina became head of Organizing for Action (OFA), using the Obama For America database and other resources to support President Obama's legislative agenda in his second term. While OFA was formed in 2009 by the President-elect, it was reformed as a political-action non-profit group in January, 2013. He also founded The Messina Group,^[26] a full-service consulting firm with offices in Washington, DC, New York, San Francisco, and London.^[27]

Messina was hired as a campaign strategy adviser to the British Conservative Party in August 2013. Messina operated from the US during the 2015 general election campaign. In a statement, Messina also added his personal admiration for Prime Minister David Cameron.^[28]

Messina is currently the co-Chair of the Priorities USA Action, a SuperPAC, which supports the election of Hillary Clinton as President in the 2016 election.^[29]

In January 2016 Messina was hired by Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, as campaign's adivser for the constitutional referendum in October.^[30]

References

↑ "Obama's People". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
↑ "Obama makes early appointments". marcambinder.theatlantic.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
↑ Tapper, Jake (2011-01-27). "Jay Carney Picked as New White House Press Secretary". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
↑ Zeleny, Jeff (2011-04-02). "An Obama Insider, Running the Race From Afar". The New York Times.
↑ Eilperin, Juliet. "Jim Messina signs on as campaign adviser to Conservatives — in Britain". Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
↑ "Tories hire Obama campaign chief Jim Messina". Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "School of Journalism". jour.umt.edu. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "Obama Hires Boise High Graduate as Chief of Staff". New West Boise. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
↑ "How to get an Obama staff job - Andie Coller". Politico.com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ "Jim Messina to receive Machiavelli Award as the Italian American Democrat of the Year at Inaugural Reception Sunday". italianamericansnews.com. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
↑ Thrush, Glenn. "Can Jim Messina get it done for President Obama? - Page 3". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ Hastings, Michael. "Obama Campaign Manager Behind Anti-Gay Ad". BuzzFeed.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
↑ "James A. Messina relationship map". Muckety. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ — President Truman. "James A. Messina (Jim) - Congressional Staffer Salary Data". Legistorm.com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
1 2 Kornblut, Anne E. (2009-02-21). "Low-Profile Aide Messina Tackles Obama's Tough Political Problems". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
↑ Bai, Matt (2005-07-17). "The Framing Wars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "Making a name". Missoula News. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "Battle Plans". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ Coller, Andie. "How to get an Obama staff job - Andie Coller - POLITICO.com". www.politico.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ Huey, Caitlin (2011-04-11). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Jim Messina - US News and World Report". Usnews.com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ "Jim Messina, Obama's Enforcer". The Nation. 2011-03-30. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ "Can Jim Messina get it done for President Obama? - Glenn Thrush". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
↑ Kirkpatrick, David D. (2009-08-06). "White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ Gerstein, Josh. "White House sets 'don't ask' strategy session - Josh Gerstein". POLITICO. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "2013 Pollie Award Winners". www.theaapc.org. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ "JIM MESSINA opens The Messina Group, with focus on Obama and progressives -- GEITHNER plans no-fee college tour on the craft of crisis response -- BIG WIN FOR MAYOR BLOOMBERG in Chicago race - POLITICO Playbook". POLITICO. Retrieved 2015-04-08. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
↑ "The Messina Group -". themessinagroup.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
↑ Stratton, Allegra (2013-08-02). "Tories hire Obama campaign chief Jim Messina". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
↑ "Priorities USA Action Announces New Leadership". Priorities USA Action.
↑ Renzi assume Jim Messina per risolvere i problemi del Pd (come consigliato dal Foglio mesi fa)

External links

Organizing for Action
Jim Messina at The Harry Walker Agency
Appearances on C-SPAN
Jim Messina collected news and commentary at Bloomberg News
Jim Messina collected news and commentary at The New York Times
Jim Messina collected news and commentary at The Washington Post
Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina official White House site (archived)
Obama's CEO: Jim Messina Has a President to Sell, Joshua Green, Bloomberg Businessweek, June 14, 2012

Political offices
Preceded by Blake Gottesman	White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations 2009–2011	Succeeded by Alyssa Mastromonaco

Obama Administration personnel

Cabinet and cabinet-level

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
Secretary of State	John Kerry	2013–	Secretary of Treasury	Jack Lew	2013–
Secretary of Defense	Ashton Carter	2015–	Attorney General	Loretta Lynch	2015–
Secretary of the Interior	Sally Jewell	2013–	Secretary of Agriculture	Tom Vilsack	2009–
Secretary of Commerce	Penny Pritzker	2013–	Secretary of Labor	Thomas Perez	2013–
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Sylvia Mathews Burwell	2014–	Secretary of Education Secretary of Transportation	Arne Duncan Anthony Foxx	2009– 2013–
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Julian Castro	2014–	Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Robert A. McDonald	2014–
Secretary of Energy	Ernest Moniz	2013–	Secretary of Homeland Security	Jeh Johnson	2013–

Vice President	Joe Biden	2009–	White House Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough	2013–
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Shaun Donovan	2014–	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Gina McCarthy	2013–
Ambassador to the United Nations	Samantha Power	2013–	Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers	Jason Furman	2013–
Trade Representative	Michael Froman	2013–	Administrator of the Small Business Administration	Maria Contreras-Sweet	2014–

Below solid line: Granted Cabinet rank although not automatically part of the Cabinet. See also: Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet

Executive Office of the President

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
White House Chief of Staff White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy	Rahm Emanuel Pete Rouse William M. Daley Jack Lew Denis McDonough Mona Sutphen Nancy-Ann DeParle Rob Nabors	2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2013–15	National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan	Jim Jones Thomas E. Donilon Susan Rice Thomas E. Donilon Denis McDonough Tony Blinken Avril Haines Douglas Lute^†	2009–10 2010–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–13 2013–14 2015– 2009–13
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations	Jim Messina Alyssa Mastromonaco Anita Decker Breckenridge	2009–11 2011–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security	Ben Rhodes John O. Brennan Lisa Monaco	2009– 2009–13 2013–
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning	Mark B. Childress Kristie Canegallo	2012–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor and NSC Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough Brooke Anderson	2009–10 2011–12
Senior Advisor to the President	David Axelrod David Plouffe Daniel Pfeiffer Shailagh Murray	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–	White House Communications Director	Anita Dunn Daniel Pfeiffer Jennifer Palmieri Jen Psaki	2009 2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Senior Advisor to the President Counselor to the President	Pete Rouse Brian Deese Pete Rouse John Podesta	2009–10 2015– 2011–13 2014–15	Deputy White House Communications Director	Jen Psaki Jennifer Palmieri Amy Brundage	2009–11 2011–14 2014–15
Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of Public Engagement Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Director, National Economic Council	Valerie Jarrett Christina Tchen Jon Carson Paulette Aniskoff Cecilia Muñoz David Agnew Jerry Abramson Lawrence Summers Gene Sperling Jeffrey Zients	2009– 2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–10 2011–14 2014–	White House Press Secretary Deputy Press Secretary Director of Special Projects Director of Speechwriting White House Counsel	Robert Gibbs Jay Carney Josh Earnest Bill Burton Josh Earnest Eric Schultz Stephanie Cutter Jon Favreau Cody Keenan Greg Craig Robert Bauer Kathryn Ruemmler W. Neil Eggleston	2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2014– 2010–11 2009–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Director, National Economic Council Deputy Director, National Economic Council Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Diana Farrell Brian Deese Jason Furman Paul Volcker	2009–11 2011–13 2009–13 2009–11	Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Phil Schiliro Rob Nabors Miguel Rodriguez Katie Beirne Fallon	2009–11 2011–13 2013 2013–
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors	Christina Romer Austan Goolsbee Jason Furman	2009–10 2010–13 2013–	Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Lisa Konwinski Amy Rosenbaum	2009– 2014–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Katharine Abraham	2011–	Executive Clerk	George T. Saunders^† David Kalbaugh	2009–12 2012–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Cecilia Rouse	2009–	Director, Office of Political Affairs	Patrick Gaspard David Simas	2009–11 2013–
Director, Office of Management and Budget	Peter R. Orszag Jack Lew Jeffrey Zients Sylvia Mathews Burwell Brian Deese Shaun Donovan	2009–10 2010–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014 2014–	Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Officer	Aneesh Chopra Todd Park Megan Smith Vivek Kundra Steven VanRoekel Tony Scott	2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–11 2011–14 2015–
Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients	2009–13	Director, Office of Presidential Personnel	Nancy Hogan Johnathan McBride Valerie Green	2010–14 2014–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Liebman Heather Higginbottom Brian Deese	2010 2011–13 2013–15	Director of Scheduling and Advance Director, White House Military Office	Alyssa Mastromonaco Danielle White Crutchfield George D. Mulligan, Jr. Emmett Beliveau	2009–11 2011– 2009–13 2013–
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk Michael Froman	2009–13 2013–	Cabinet Secretary	Chris Lu Broderick Johnson	2009–13 2013–
Director, Domestic Policy Council	Melody Barnes Cecilia Muñoz	2009–12 2012–	Deputy Cabinet Secretary	Liz Sears Smith Rachana Bhowmik Michael Robertson Gaurab Bansal	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Domestic Policy Council	Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman	2009–11 2011–	Staff Secretary	Lisa Brown Rajesh De Douglas Kramer Joani Walsh	2009–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois Melissa Rogers	2009–2013 2013–	Assistant to the President for Management and Administration	Bradley Kiley Katy Kale Maju Varghese	2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Director, Office of Health Reform	Nancy-Ann DeParle	2009–11	Director, Oval Office Operations	Micaela Fernandez Brian Mosteller	2009–12 2012–
Deputy Director, Office of Health Reform	Jeanne Lambrew	2009–2011	Personal Aide to the President	Reggie Love Marvin Nicholson	2009–11 2011–
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy	Carol Browner	2009–11	Personal Secretary to the President	Katie Johnson Anita Decker Breckenridge Ferial Govashiri	2009–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Heather Zichal Dan Utech	2009–2013 2013–	Special Projects Coordinator and Confidential Assistant to the President	Eugene Kang	2009–11
Director, Council on Environmental Quality	Nancy Sutley Michael Boots	2009–2014 2014–	Director, Office of National AIDS Policy	Jeffrey Crowley Grant Cofax Douglas Brooks	2009–2011 2012–2014 2014–
Chief of Staff to the First Lady	Jackie Norris Susan Sher Christina Tchen	2009 2009–10 2011–	Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	Gil Kerlikowske Michael Botticelli	2009–14 2014–
White House Social Secretary	Desirée Rogers Julianna Smoot Jeremy Bernard Deesha Dyer	2009–10 2010–11 2011–15 2015–	Director, Office of Urban Affairs	Adolfo Carrión, Jr. Racquel Russell	2009–2010 2010–
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren	2009–

^*Senate-confirmation pending. †Remained from previous administration (s).

Office of the Vice President

Position	Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Vice President	Steve Ricchetti
Counsel to the Vice President	Cynthia Hogan
Counselor to the Vice President	Mike Donilon
Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison	Evan Ryan
Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Communications	Shailagh Murray
Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President	Shailagh Murray
Deputy National Security Adviser to the Vice President	Brian McKeon
Residence Manager and Social Secretary for the Vice President and Second Lady	Carlos Elizondo
National Security Adviser to the Vice President	Tony Blinken

Position	Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Second Lady	Catherine M. Russell
Director of Administration for the Office of the Vice President	Moises Vela
Domestic Policy Adviser to the Vice President	Terrell McSweeny
Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President	Jared Bernstein
Press Secretary to the Vice President	Elizabeth Alexander
Deputy Press Secretary to the Vice President	Annie Tomasini
Director of Legislative Affairs	Sudafi Henry
Director of Communications for the Second Lady	Courtney O’Donnell

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