Roy M. Neel (born 1948/1949) is a Democratic Party operative who was a top assistant to

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Biography

Raised in

Smyrna, Tennessee Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 53,070 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Tennessee by population in that census. Smyrna is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. Histo ...

, Neel joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and served a tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as a photojournalist. Early in his career, he worked as a sportswriter for the

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...

. In 1975, he wrote ''Dynamite! 75 Years of Vanderbilt Basketball''. Also in his earlier years, he started an aerial photography business and a political consulting firm, and was on the staff of the mayor of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Neel graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

in 1972 and earned a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1983. In 1977, he joined Gore's congressional staff. He stayed throughout Gore's congressional career, rising to the position of

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

in Gore's Senate office. In 1992, he managed Gore's vice presidential campaign; he then participated in the White House transition and became Chief of Staff to the Vice President. In 1993, after 17 years of service to Gore, Neel went on to be President Clinton's Deputy White House Chief of Staff. He was responsible for coordinating policy and communications. After his White House service, Neel worked for seven years as president and CEO of the United States Telecom Association, representing the regional Bell companies and almost 1,000 local telecom companies. He was a director of public and corporate boards, including the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak). He directed Gore's transition planning during the 2000 presidential election and Florida recount. In 2004, he briefly was

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

Governor

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

's campaign manager and then directed the "Nader Project", an effort at mitigating the effects of

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

on Democratic electoral success. He is chief of staff for former vice president Al Gore and his organizational advocacy on climate change. He is also a senior advisor to the Climate Project, which has trained 2,500 individuals around the world to spread the message about the climate crisis. Neel is also an adjunct professor of political science at Vanderbilt, where he teaches courses in Presidential Transitions and Presidential Leadership.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neel, Roy 1940s births American campaign managers American photojournalists Chiefs of staff to the vice president of the United States Clinton administration personnel Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people People from Smyrna, Tennessee Vanderbilt University alumni White House deputy chiefs of staff Vanderbilt University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)