Daniel Joseph Bartlett (born June 1, 1971) is an American political advisor who served as

counselor to the president Counselor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States and senior members of the White House Office. The current officeholders are Alina Habba and Peter Navarro. The position should no ...

and

communications director Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

in the administration of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

Early life and education

Bartlett grew up in

Rockwall, Texas Rockwall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the County seat, seat of Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall County. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of 2023, Rockwall's population is 52,918, up from 47,251 in the 2020 census. The name Roc ...

and is a 1989 graduate of Rockwall High School. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Political career

Bush gubernatorial staff (1990s)

Bartlett worked on George W. Bush's first campaign for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1994, when Bush unseated Ann W. Richards. He was appointed as deputy to the policy director in the governor's office and was issues director for Bush's 1998 gubernatorial re-election campaign.

Bush 2000 presidential campaign

Bartlett was the director of rapid response for George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.

White House communications director (2001-2005)

After Bush assumed office as president, he worked as a deputy to advisor Karen Hughes before being named

White House communications director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...

. Following the July 6, 2003, editorial by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Bartlett (with Ari Fleischer) pushed reporters to pursue who in the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

sent him to

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, but stopped short of revealing that his wife worked for the agency. On September 1, 2004, Bartlett appeared on the '' Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' on the second night of the

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of Republican National Convention, historic quadrennial meetings at w ...

, where he discussed the convention and campaign.

Counselor to the president (2005-2007)

On January 5, 2005, the White House announced that Bartlett would assume the role of counselor to the president, which allows him to focus more broadly on strategic communication and the formulation of policy. He has also worked for

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August ...

's political consulting firm. On June 1, 2007, Bartlett announced his resignation as Counsel to the President.

Post-resignation controversies

At the end of 2007, during an interview after having left the White House, Bartlett implied some

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

bloggers, such as

Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American conservative political commentator, radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, attorney, academic, and author. He writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States ...

, were unfiltered mouthpieces for the GOP and the Bush White House.

I mean, talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. It's a very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we've cultivated and have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on.

In May 2008, Bartlett appeared on various media outlets casting aspersions on the contentions raised by

Scott McClellan Scott McClellan (born February 14, 1968) is the former White House Press Secretary (2003–06) for President of the United States, President George W. Bush, he was the 24th person to hold this post. He was also the author of a controversial No. 1 ...

in his book '' What Happened'' that the administration had repeatedly "shaded the truth" in connection with justifying the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, and describing the role that various administration officials played in the

Valerie Plame Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy, novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA offic ...

leak case. In a May 2008 telephone interview with

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, Bartlett "asserted that McClellan did not play a major role in key events, noting that the former aide was serving as deputy press secretary for domestic issues during the run-up to the war in Iraq, raising questions about how McClellan could claim the President used '

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

' to sell the war."

Consulting

On October 28, 2007, Public Strategies, Inc., a business advisory firm, announced they had hired Bartlett as a senior strategist. In March 2009, Bartlett was named president and CEO of Public Strategies.

Academia

In January 2009, Bartlett was named an adjunct faculty member at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, at which he taught a seminar on media and politics.

Walmart (2013 - present)

In May 2013,

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

announced that Bartlett would become the company's new executive vice president of corporate affairs in late June. He has held this position for just over a decade, and has written numerous articles regarding Walmart and his career.

Personal life

In 2000, Bartlett married Allyson Elizabeth Sikes (born 1975). The couple has four sons Jake, Sutton, Whit, Wynn Bartlett, They reside in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

References

External links

White House biographyPublic Strategies Inc
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Dan 1971 births Counselors to the president of the United States Living people Texas Republicans Arkansas Republicans University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty White House communications directors Businesspeople from Arkansas People from Rockwall, Texas People from Rogers, Arkansas