Stephen Bannon American campaign manager, producer, screenwriter, director, businessman and media executive Date of Birth: 27.11.1953 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Military and Investment Banking Career
3. Biosphere 2 and Film Production
4. Breitbart News and Clinton Cash
5. Trump Administration
6. Personal Life and Allegations

Early Life and Education

Stephen Kevin Bannon, known as Steve, was born on November 27, 1953, in Norfolk, Virginia. His parents were Irish-Catholic, Kennedy-supporting, union-sympathizing Democrats. Bannon graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1976 and earned a master's degree in national security studies from Georgetown University. Later, in 1983, he received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Military and Investment Banking Career

Bannon served in the United States Navy for seven years, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. He served as a surface warfare officer on the destroyer USS Paul F. Foster in the Pacific Fleet and as a special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.

After leaving the military, Bannon became an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where he worked on mergers and acquisitions. In 1990, he and several colleagues founded a small investment bank called Bannon & Co., which specialized in media.

Biosphere 2 and Film Production

In 1993, while still running Bannon & Co., Steve became the CEO of the Biosphere 2 research project in Oracle, Arizona. Under Bannon's leadership, the Biosphere 2 facility, which simulated a closed ecological system, shifted its focus from space colonization to addressing pollution and global warming. He left the project in 1995.

After selling Bannon & Co., Bannon became a film and media producer in Hollywood, California. He produced Julie Taymor's 1999 film "Titus" and directed the 2004 documentary "In the Face of Evil" about Ronald Reagan. Bannon co-financed, produced, and directed several other films, including "Undefeated," "Occupy Unmasked," "Sweetwater," and "Torchbearer." He also hosted the radio show "Breitbart News Daily" on Sirius XM.

Breitbart News and Clinton Cash

In March 2012, after the death of Andrew Breitbart, Bannon became executive chairman of Breitbart News LLC, the parent company of Breitbart News. Under Bannon's leadership, Breitbart News LLC's multimedia content took on a nationalist and alt-right slant. The New York Times described Breitbart News LLC under Bannon as "a curious mix of right-wing fringe and more mainstream Republican voices" with "ideologically driven reporters" and a source of controversial material that has been seen as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist. It also highlighted its transformation into "a powerful voice" for Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

On August 17, 2016, Bannon became the chief executive of Trump's presidential campaign. He took a leave of absence from Breitbart News LLC to focus on his new role.

Trump Administration

On November 13, 2016, Bannon was named Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to President-elect Trump. His appointment drew sharp criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other civil rights groups, as well as prominent Democrats, including Harry Reid, and some Republican strategists. The main concern stemmed from past statements made by Breitbart News that some deemed racist and anti-Semitic.

On the other hand, Ben Shapiro, Bernard Marcus of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the Zionist Organization of America, Shmuley Boteach, and David Horowitz defended Bannon. Political commentator Alan Dershowitz called Bannon a bigot but added that there was "no persuasive evidence" that Trump's senior adviser was an anti-Semite.

Personal Life and Allegations

Bannon's first wife was Kathleen Huff Jordan. The couple had a daughter, Maureen. After their divorce, Bannon married former investment banker Mary Louise Piccard in April 1995; she gave birth to twin girls three days later. That marriage also ended in divorce. Bannon married for a third time in 1997, to Diane Clohisy. They divorced in 2009.

Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery, and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime in January 1996 after Piccard accused him of battery. The charges were dropped when his then-estranged wife failed to appear in court.

During the divorce proceedings, Piccard also alleged that Bannon had made anti-Semitic remarks about school choice. She claimed he did not want to send their children to Archer School for Girls because there were too many Jewish students who were being raised by their parents to be "whiny brats." Bannon's spokesperson denied the allegations, noting that he planned to send both his daughters to Archer School.