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Scott McClellanFormer White House Press Secretary from 2003 to 2006
Date of Birth: 14.02.1968
Country:  USA |
Content:
Scott McClellan
Scott McLellan served as the White House Press Secretary from 2003 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is the author of the bestselling book about the Bush administration, "What Happened."
Early Life and Education
McClellan was born in Austin, Texas, to Carol Keaton Strayhorn, a former Texas state comptroller and Republican gubernatorial candidate, and attorney Barr McClellan. His brother, Mark, worked as a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration. He is the grandson of the late W. Page Keaton, a University of Texas law school dean and prominent civil liberties attorney.
McClellan graduated from high school in 1986, where he was active in tennis and served as student body president. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he was president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and a member of the tennis team.
Political Career
McClellan worked on his mother's three successful political campaigns and served as personnel director for a Texas state senator. Karen Hughes, George W. Bush's communications director during his tenure as Texas governor, took note of McClellan's talent and hired him as her deputy. He served as Bush's press secretary during the 2000 presidential election.
In 2001, McClellan became Deputy White House Press Secretary and succeeded Ari Fleischer as Press Secretary in 2003. He left the position on April 19, 2006, with Tony Snow replacing him on April 26.
"What Happened"
McClellan is best known for his 2008 memoir, "What Happened." The book is critical of the George W. Bush administration and the President himself, accusing Bush of self-deception and prioritizing public relations over serious decision-making.
McClellan disputed the popular theory that the President lied about the reasons for invading Iraq, arguing instead that the administration was not fully deceptive but did attempt to spin the war through an elaborate public relations campaign. He was particularly critical of the White House press corps, which he accused of being overly deferential to the administration and accepting the President's view of the war without question.
Despite this, McClellan has stated in The Washington Post that he still respects Bush and considers him "a really decent human being."
Legacy
McClellan has been a vocal critic of the many conspiracy theories surrounding the Iraq War, arguing that the mistakes that were made were not due to malicious intent but rather a series of bad assumptions. The Bush administration was quick to denounce the book, with Press Secretary Dana Perino claiming that McClellan had never expressed these views before and that the memoir was a surprise to everyone who knew him. White House insiders noted that it was strange for someone who so strongly disagreed with the President's policies to have stayed in such a high-profile position for so long. McClellan endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
