Joshua Bolten
Joshua Brewster Bolten | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1954 |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney, political figure |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Known for | White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush; Director of the Office of Management and Budget; President and CEO of Business Roundtable |
Joshua Brewster Bolten (born August 16, 1954) is an American attorney and political figure who held the position of White House chief of staff under President George W. Bush, taking over from Andrew Card on April 14, 2006. Prior to this role, he was the director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2003 until 2006.
Since 2017, Bolten has led the Business Roundtable as its president and CEO.
Early life and education
Bolten, who is Jewish, is the son of Analouise (née Clissold) and Seymour Bolten. His father was employed by the CIA, while his mother was a world history professor at George Washington University. He completed his secondary education at St. Albans School and remained on its board until 2007.
He pursued higher education at Princeton University, where he attended the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. During his time there, Bolten served as class president and led The Ivy Club. He graduated in 1976 with a senior thesis entitled "Judicial Selection in Virginia." Following Princeton, he earned a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School in 1980, contributing as an editor to the law review.
Career
During the administration of President George H.W. Bush (1989–1993), Bolten spent three years as general counsel for the Office of the United States Trade Representative and an additional year as deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs.
Between 1994 and 1999, he held the position of executive director for legal and government affairs at Goldman Sachs in London. Afterwards, he acted as policy director for the 2000 George W. Bush presidential campaign.
In President George W. Bush’s tenure, Bolten initially served as deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House from 2001 to 2003, followed by his role as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 2004 to 2006. His appointment as White House chief of staff in 2006 marked him as the second Jewish individual to assume that office.
Bolten remained chief of staff until 2009. Drawing on his experience with Goldman Sachs, he recruited Henry Paulson—then Goldman Sachs CEO—to be Treasury Secretary. He also appointed Tony Snow as White House press secretary, nominated Rob Portman for OMB director, and elevated his OMB deputy Joel Kaplan to deputy chief of staff for policy.
Later career
In 2009, Bolten joined Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs as the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor, where he taught courses on federal budgeting, international trade, and financial regulation. The following year, he was named co-chair of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which successfully raised $36 million to support earthquake relief and recovery efforts in Haiti.
Bolten co-founded Rock Creek Global Advisors in 2011, an international consultancy specializing in economic and regulatory policy, serving as managing director until 2017. That year, he assumed leadership of the Business Roundtable as president and CEO, succeeding former Michigan Governor John Engler. Additionally, Bolten holds a position on Princeton University's board of trustees.
Personal life
Bolten is the bass guitarist for the group known as The Compassionates. In 2015, he wed Ann Kelly.