White House Political Director

White House Political Director
Incumbent Emmy Ruiz since January 20, 2021
Executive Office of the President White House Office
Appointer	President of the United States
Formation	1978 (informally) 1981 (formally)
First holder	Tim Kraft (informally) Lyn Nofziger (formally)

The White House Political Director, formally the Director of the Office of Political Affairs (OPA) or Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach (OPSO), is a political appointee of the President of the United States and a senior member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

History

The White House Office of Political Affairs was first formally established in 1981 during under Ronald Reagan, while Jimmy Carter was the first to designate a political director in 1978.

Subsequent administrations have rebranded the office. During his second term, President Obama renamed the office as the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, though the roles and responsibilities of the office and its director remained.

List

Image	Name	Start	End	President
50px	Tim Kraft	April 28, 1978	August 10, 1979		Jimmy Carter
50px	Sarah Weddington	August 10, 1979	January 20, 1981
50px	Lyn Nofziger	January 20, 1981	January 22, 1982		Ronald Reagan
50px	Ed Rollins	January 22, 1982	October 1983
	Margaret Tutwiler Acting	July 23, 1984	February 5, 1985
50px	Bill Lacy	April 5, 1985	June 17, 1986
50px	Haley Barbour	June 17, 1986	March 16, 1987
	Frank Lavin	March 16, 1987	January 20, 1989
	James Wray	January 20, 1989	June 1, 1990		George H. W. Bush
	David Carney	June 1, 1990 Acting: June 1, 1990 – March 5, 1991	January 1992
50px	Ron Kaufman	January 1992	August 24, 1992
50px	Janet Mullins	August 24, 1992	January 20, 1993
50px	Rahm Emanuel	January 20, 1993	June 23, 1993		Bill Clinton
	Joan Baggett	June 23, 1993	December 1994
	Joe Velasquez Acting	December 1994	February 16, 1995
	Doug Sosnik	February 16, 1995	February 7, 1997
	Craig Smith	February 7, 1997	February 5, 1999
50px	Minyon Moore	February 5, 1999	January 20, 2001
50px	Ken Mehlman	January 20, 2001	May 23, 2003		George W. Bush
50px	Matt Schlapp	May 23, 2003	February 2005
	Sara Taylor	February 2005	May 31, 2007
	Jonathan Felts	May 31, 2007	January 20, 2009
50px	Patrick Gaspard	January 20, 2009	February 1, 2011		Barack Obama
Vacant		February 1, 2011	January 24, 2014
50px	David Simas	January 24, 2014	December 19, 2016
	Bill Stepien	January 20, 2017	December 7, 2018		Donald Trump
	Brian Jack	February 2, 2019	January 20, 2021
	Emmy Ruiz	January 20, 2021	present		Joe Biden

Political and Intergovernmental Affairs

During the second term of the Reagan administration, there was a director of political and intergovernmental affairs who sat above the political director and intergovernmental affairs director.

Image	Name	Start	End	President
50px	Ed Rollins	February 5, 1985	October 1, 1985		Ronald Reagan
50px	Mitch Daniels	October 1, 1985	February 19, 1987
50px	Frank Donatelli	February 19, 1987	January 20, 1989

In popular culture

Paulo Costanzo portrays Lyor Boone, the fictional White House Political Director, in Designated Survivor, a political thriller television series.