Joshua Bolten encyclopedia topics

Early history

Bolten's father, Seymour, worked for the CIA and his mother, Analouise, taught world history at the George Washington University. He graduated from St. Albans School, and he is now on the school's board.

At Princeton University, he studied in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and served as class president and president of The Ivy Club. He graduated in 1976. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1980 and served as an editor of the law review.

Professional life

Formerly the Director on Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Bolten was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to that position in 2003. Bolten was Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House from 2001 to 2003. He previously served as policy director for the 2000 George W. Bush Presidential campaign from 1999 to 2000 and as Executive Director for Legal and Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs in London from 1994 to 1999.

He was general counsel to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for three years and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs for one year during the administration of George H. W. Bush. Bolten is the second Jewish person appointed as White House Chief of Staff (Ken Duberstein, who held that post during the Reagan Administration, was the first), and first Jewish person appointed to the Bush cabinet.

Bolten was named as White House Chief of Staff to smooth relations with the United States Congress, and to reinvigorate the West Wing staff. He is credited with having assisted the President in recruiting Henry Paulson - the CEO of Goldman Sachs - to serve as Treasury Secretary, based on his former employment at the firm. In addition, he recruited Tony Snow to work as White House Press Secretary, offered Rob Portman the opportunity to succeed him as OMB Director, and brought his OMB deputy Joel Kaplan in to the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.

On June 13 2007, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Bolten for documents related to the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. The subpoena had a deadline of June 28. On Wednesday, July 25 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted 22-17 to cite Bolten for contempt of Congress for his failure to produce the documents in response to its subpoena. On Feb. 14, 2008, the full House of Representatives voted to cite him for contempt by a vote of 223-32. Many Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest, deriding the priorities of the speaker in calling the vote, as opposed to a vote on a surveillance bill.