White House Deputy Chief of Staff
The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is officially the top aide to the White House Chief of Staff, White House chief of staff, who is the senior aide to the president of the United States. The deputy chief of staff usually has an office in the Wh ...
to former
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
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 ...
,Bush’s personal aide returns at top - Yahoo! News /ref> becoming, at age 28, the youngest member of the Bush senior staff. He previously served in the Bush administration as personal aide and
body man
A personal assistant who accompanies the president of the United States virtually everywhere is generally referred to as a body man or body woman, but in some cases may be referred to as a personal aide. These personal aides to the president a ...
Gottesman was born in Travis County, Texas, the son of Lisa Babette (née Temerlin) and Sanford Lee Gottesman. His father is president of The Gottesman Company, a real estate development company based 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 ...
, and board member of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...
. His maternal grandfather, Julius Liener Temerlin, was a prominent advertiser who founded the
Dallas International Film Festival
The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. The 2025 edition will be held April 25-May 1, 2025.
DIFF 2024 was held April 25-May 1, 2024.
DIFF 2023 was held April 28-May 5, 2023. Th ...
. He was raised
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
.
Gottesman was educated at St. Andrews Episcopal School and Stephen F. Austin High School, both 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 ...
; during this time he dated
Jenna Bush
Jenna Welch Bush Hager (née Bush; born November 25, 1981) is an American news personality, author, and journalist. She is the host of '' Today with Jenna & Friends'', the fourth hour of NBC's morning news program, ''Today.'' Hager and her frater ...
when her father was
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces.
Established in the Constit ...
. Gottesman attended
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and internat ...
for one year and dropped out.
Career
Gottesman worked as a junior aide to then-
White House Chief of Staff
The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States.
The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
Andrew Card
Andrew Hill Card Jr. (born May 10, 1947) is an American politician and Academic administration, academic administrator who was White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, as well as head of Bush's White House Iraq ...
at the beginning of Bush's first presidential term and became Bush's full-time personal aide in February 2002. Gottesman was responsible for managing Bush's day-to-day activities and traveled with him to functions and on overseas trips. In a 2006 ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' article on Gottesman, he was said to understand Bush's moods and tendencies better than most of his other advisors, leading many to have discussions with him on issues before presenting them to the President. When compared to fictional presidential aide
Charlie Young
Charles Young is a fictional character played by Dulé Hill on the television serial drama ''The West Wing''. For the majority of the series, he is the Personal Aide to President Josiah Bartlet.
Creation and development
The character of Cha ...
in television series ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...
'', Gottesman stated, "Our jobs are probably pretty similar."
In his role as a personal aide, Gottesman performed a wide range of duties, from dog-sitting the president's Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, to carrying the president's speeches and giving him the two-minute warning before a speech begins. After his stint as an aide, he enrolled in
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
, graduating in 2008. His admission to the school despite not having received an
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
degree was criticized by many media commentators.
After the inauguration of President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, Gottesman joined
Berkshire Partners
Berkshire Partners LLC is an American private equity firm based in Boston. It has invested in over 100 middle market companies since 1986 through nine investment funds with aggregate capital commitments of more than $16 billion. Berkshire has de ...
, a
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
-based
private equity
Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
firm, as a senior associate. Since then, Gottesman has been elevated to managing director at Berkshire.Retrieved 9/4/2012. /ref>
Further reading
*Elisabeth Bumiller (May 30, 2005). . ''The New York Times'' (registration required).