Who is Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s new White House chief of staff?

President-elect Joe Biden’s choice of Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff signals a homecoming, as both men have worked together for more than three decades.

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Klain, 59, has experience as a senior adviser to Democratic presidents, vice presidents, candidates and senators, The Washington Post reported. His appointment marks a political homecoming since Klain served in the late 1980s as a top aide to Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ran Biden’s office when he first became vice president.

“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement. “His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.”

“It’s the honor of a lifetime to serve President-elect Biden in this role, and I am humbled by his confidence,” Klain said in a statement. “I look forward to helping him and the Vice President-elect assemble a talented and diverse team to work in the White House, as we tackle their ambitious agenda.”

Klain has a long history in Washington, working behind the scenes during the Ebola outbreak and was involved in the Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

“This town is brimming with smart people and high school valedictorians,” Jared Bernstein, an economic adviser to Biden when he was vice president, told the Post. “Ron brings something extra to the table, which is an ability to quickly process complex, conflicting streams of information and zero in on the optimal solution.”

A 1987 graduate of Harvard Law School in 1987, Klain was the editor of the Harvard Law Review, CNN reported. He later served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Byron R. “Whizzer” White.

Klain was appointed by then-Sen. Biden to serve as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1989 to 1992.

He worked with President Bill Clinton in several different roles, including the chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore, CNN reported.

Klain also worked for Gore during his failed presidential bid in 2000 and served as general counsel in Florida during Gore’s recount effort, CNN reported. Actor Kevin Spacey played him in the 2008 movie “Recount," according to the Post.

“People frequently tell me that I should ‘get over’ the 2000 election and the recount,” Klain tweeted in 2019. “I haven’t, and I don’t think I ever will.”

Klain also served as a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign and focused on preparing the candidate for the debates during the campaign.

Klain also worked on debate preparations for Bill Clinton in 1992 and Gore in 2000, and he has led the debate prep for John Kerry, Barack Obama and Biden.

Klain was an adviser on Biden’s unsuccessful 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns, NPR reported.

“He is the logical choice and brings the complete package -- universally acknowledged ability, a broad range of experience, chemistry with the president-elect -- and he is a strategic thinker that brings results,” Pete Rouse, a top aide to Obama, told the Post.

Klain is known for his sharp wit and steady nerves and has frequently been a critic of President Donald Trump on Twitter, The New York Times reported.

Klain directed much of his criticism at Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A video of Klain lecturing Trump about the pandemic was widely viewed during this year’s presidential campaign, the Times reported.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, praised Klain on Twitter, calling him “a superb choice.” Warren added that Klain "understands the magnitude of the health and economic crisis and he has the experience to lead this next administration through it.”

Cox Media Group