Current Position: President and chief executive of the Center For American Progress (since 2003)
Why He Matters
Podesta is a fan of roller coasters and the next four years should be quite a ride. Described in his own biography as a “straight-talker” with an “acerbic wit,” Podesta is also known as Skippy, an alter-ego famous for dressing down subordinates who don’t perform.
As the head of Center for American Progress (CAP), a think tank he founded in 2003 to revitalize the progressive movement by thinking outside the Democratic box, Podesta has been preparing for a Democratic revolution for the last eight years of the George W. Bush presidency. Podesta took a leave of absence from CAP to serve as President Barack Obama's transition co-chair, but has no formal role in the administration.
But the former Clinton White House chief of staff helped assemble a Democratic government-in-exile. To fill Obama's cabinet, Podesta is leaning heavily on CAP and its network of Democratic heavyweights. But he says he won’t officially be part of it.
But that doesn’t mean Podesta, or Skippy as the case may be, won’t wield enormous power in Obamaworld.
At a Glance
Current Position: President and chief executive of the Center For American Progress (2003 to present)
Career History: Co-chair, Obama transition (November 2008 to January 2009); President Bill Clinton's chief of staff (1998 to 2000); Professor at Georgetown University Law Center (1995 to 1998)
Birthday: Jan. 8, 1949
Hometown: Chicago, Ill.
Alma Mater: Knox College; Georgetown University, J.D.
Spouse: Mary
Religion: N/A
DC Office: N/A
State/District Office: N/A
Email N/A
Web site
Path to Power
Like so many Washington heavyweights, Podesta began his career as a Capitol Hill aide in 1979 as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was then chaired by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass). Kennedy’s chief aide on the committee was then Stephen Breyer, who is now a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
When Republicans won the Senate majority in 1980, Podesta served as minority counsel during some of the most bitter, partisan Senate confirmation fights, including the defeat of Robert Bork as a Supreme Court nominee. But even his foes praise his political acumen. “In all honesty, I think John’s just as heavyweight as any of them,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) when Podesta was named Clinton chief of staff in October 1998 on the eve of the president’s impeachment. ''They'd be stupid not to put him in there, because he's got all the ability in the world. He's a very loyal, dedicated man.”
Podesta also served as chief counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1987 to 1988 under Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). He then took a spin through the capital’s revolving door when in 1988 he founded a powerhouse lobbying firm with his brother, Tony, known as Podesta Associates, Inc. But he returned to the Hill as a counselor to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) from 1995 to 1996.
Many of Obama’s campaign hands came from Daschle’s circle and they later made their way into the White House.
Clinton White House
The Democratic power-broker is best known for his role containing the damage from the myriad scandals in the Clinton White House, from Whitewater, to the travel office firings, to the affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky that led to Clinton’s impeachment in December 1998.
From 1993 to 1995, Podesta’s first tour of duty in the White House was as Clinton’s staff secretary — a job in which he controlled the paper flow to the president’s desk. In 1995, he left to return to his alma-mater, Georgetown University’s Law Center, to teach a course on congressional inquiries from the perspective of the “tortured,” he likes to say. When Clinton won re-election, Podesta returned as deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president, assuming the role of chief of staff during the last two years of the Clinton presidency.
Relationship With Bill Clinton
Clinton and Podesta met during the 1970s as they worked to organize adjacent districts in a Connecticut Senate contest. The fact that he did not have a long friendship with the president might have helped him to forgive Clinton for lying directly to him in the Lewinsky matter. “He has asked for our forgiveness, and I've certainly forgiven him, and I think he wants to move on. I think the country wants to move on,” Podesta told CNN in October 1998, two months before Clinton was impeached by the House.
But Podesta’s loyalty to Clinton got him into hot legal water more than once as he became a frequent grand jury guest.
The senior aide became enmeshed in the Lewinsky matter when he twice suggested the intern’s name as a job prospect to then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson as a favor to then-Clinton secretary Betty Currie. Yet Podesta managed a sense of humor in the surreal situation. A fanatic of the TV show “X-Files,” Podesta joked about art imitating life in his three grand jury appearances. “Was that a trick question?” he bantered when asked whether he was the same John Podesta who appeared before the grand jury the previous week, explaining to jurors that he had seen the X-Files over the weekend and thus couldn’t be sure.
Podesta also counseled Clinton and the first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton during the furor over pardons for financial benefactors during the closing weeks of his presidency.
The Issues
Podesta carved out a niche for himself at the nexus between technology and law during his White House years. He is also very interested in the environment, having served on the board of the League of Conservation Voters during the Bush years. He and his brother, Tony, organized the huge rally to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990.
Podesta’s single biggest policy achievement, however, could be the creation of the progressive think-tank CAP in 2003. CAP writes policy papers, hosts ThinkProgress.com and MicCheckRadio.org, which sends out a daily radio feed to liberal stations.
When other progressives were looking to simply repackage their message, Podesta sought to reinvent liberal ideas entirely. Podesta, for instance, is intrigued by the idea of a “flatter tax” that would tax income and investments.
Podesta has written some 40 articles for CAP on climate change, Iraq and the pitfalls of too much government secrecy.
He lured high-profile Democrats to CAP’s leadership who promise to figure prominently in an Obama administration, including Obama confidante Daschle, Gene Sperling and Laura Tyson.
Podesta established CAP to rival the depth and breadth of the conservative movement’s Heritage Foundation, and the think-tank, which is entirely underwritten by private donors, has snagged such wealthy benefactors as George Soros, Peter B. Lewis, chairman of Progressive Insurance, and the Hollywood producer Steve Bing.
The Network
Podesta’s ties to Democratic heavyweights are long and deep. His brother, Tony, is head of Podesta Associates and has represented clients like Amgen Inc. and Lockheed Martin. John Podesta is a registered lobbyist for CAP.
Tony’s wife, Heather Podesta, has a separate lobbying practice and proudly sported an “L” on her lapel to have fun with the idea that lobbyists were outcasts in Obama’s world.
Podesta is close to incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (they are both Chicago natives), and served as a top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Daschle from 1995 to 1996. He is also friendly with Pete Rouse, Obama’s former Senate chief of staff who is a senior adviser in the new White House.
But he also did something unexpected in October 2009, endorsing independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former Republican, for re-election as New York City mayor, noting that crossing party lines was a first for the fierce partisan.
