John Podesta

John Podesta
Basic facts
Organization:	Biden administration
Role:	Special envoy for climate change
Location:	Washington, D.C.
Affiliation:	Democratic
Education:	•Knox College (B.A., 1971) •Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1976)
Prior Experience •Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee •Chief of staff, former President Bill Clinton •President and founder, Center for American Progress •Counselor, President Barack Obama •Visiting professor, Georgetown University Law Center •Chairman, Hillary for America PAC •Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential

John Podesta is a longtime Democratic strategist and advisor and founder of the Center for American Progress.

Podesta was the special envoy for climate change in the Biden administration from 2024 to 2025. He assumed the role in March 2024, when former envoy John Kerry resigned. During the 2016 election cycle, he worked as the campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. In August 2016, Podesta was appointed as president of Clinton's presidential transition planning efforts, focusing on "creating lists of potential administration appointees and developing a roadmap for her policy agenda."

Biography

Podesta received a bachelor's degree from Knox College, and a law degree from Georgetown University. In 1972, while in law school at Georgetown University, Podesta acted as campaign manager for Sam Brown, who was running for Colorado state treasurer. After graduating in 1976, Podesta became a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

In 1979, Podesta became the subcommittee chief minority counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He remained with the Senate Judiciary Committee until 1986, when he became chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Agriculture. In April 1988, Podesta started his own firm with his brother Tony Podesta. John Podesta remained with the Washington, D.C., political advocacy and strategic communications firm Podesta Group, initially called Podesta Associates, until 1993.

Since 1995, Podesta has been a visiting professor at the Georgetown Law Center. Furthermore, Podesta has authored and co-authored several texts, including The Power of Progress: How America's Progressives Can (Once Again) Save Our Economy, Our Climate, and Our Country and Think Progress: Ten Big Ideas to Change the Country.

Work and activities

Bill Clinton advisor

In 1993, Podesta joined former President Bill Clinton's White House staff, first as staff secretary, then as deputy chief of staff, and finally as chief of staff. It was during his tenure at the White House that he developed close ties with the Clintons. According to Time, Podesta was initially assigned to handle "scandals" in the Clinton administration. Then-Chief of Staff Mack McLarty told the magazine, "You needed to isolate those as much as you can and keep the staff focused on the president and his agenda. I asked John to spearhead that. He was superb." He became chief of staff in November 1998.

During his time as Clinton's chief of staff, Podesta helped manage the administration's response to Clinton's impeachment and the major story of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Later, Podesta told PBS of the administration's strategy and approach to the story:

“

What we needed to do was to try to keep our focus, but obviously there was a feeding frenzy at the beginning in this town. You probably have a better sense of the count of stories and issues that were raised and counter-raised, some of which turned out not to be true. From a press perspective, we were constantly battling with the fact that it was difficult to talk about anything else or that Washington's attention was totally focused on the Lewinsky matter in early 1998 and then, of course, into the fall. ... I think that one of the reasons that the American public stuck with the president was that he and we were able to keep our focus on the people's business. He was able to both keep working on the issues that were important to the public. During that year, for example, we did a trip to China, which proved to be an enormously important trip. It laid the foundation for establishing a different relationship with China that ultimately led to the vote we just had recently on permanent normal trade relations with China.

”

Although Podesta had a reputation for being a patient advisor, Clinton staffers joked that he had an alter-ego named "Skippy," according to The Washington Post: "As scandal rocked the end of that presidency, staffers knew they had better come prepared to meetings. Otherwise, nurturing mentor John would be replaced by Skippy -- Podesta's quick-tempered, edgy and sarcastic alter ego."

Center for American Progress

See also: Center for American Progress

In 2003, Podesta founded the Center for American Progress (CAP), which The Washington Post has called "the preeminent liberal think tank in Washington." CAP has two branches: one is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) think tank, while the other is an issue-driven 501(c)(4) entity.

In November 2014, National Journal described the group as one founded "to give the Left some policy and advocacy muscle on par with the conservative Heritage Foundation." Politico called the organization "a fundraising juggernaut that rakes in between $30 million and $40 million a year from donors."

In 2015, The New Yorker explained the influence of Podesta in his founding the CAP: "Podesta’s efforts in founding the institution and getting it up and running filled a gap in the Washington ecosystem. Other liberal-leaning think tanks, such as the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, have long done sterling work. But, until the arrival of the Center for American Progress, which is now headed up by Neera Tanden, another Clintonite, no left-leaning think tank had the heft, the resources, and the drive of the conservative Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute."

Obama advisor

Upon the election of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in 2008, Podesta was appointed by Obama to act as co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Project, which was meant to create a smooth transition from former President George W. Bush's (R) administration to Obama's. After the transition, despite President Obama's desire to bring Podesta into his administration, Podesta returned to CAP and served as president and CEO until 2014. During his tenure as president and CEO, CAP's nonpartisan think tank generated between $30 and $40 million in contributions per year between 2011 and 2013.

John Podesta with President Barack Obama on board Air Force One in 2015

January 2014 marked yet another transition, as Podesta returned to the White House to serve under President Obama as a senior advisor. He was especially active on climate change and energy policies. Podesta's hiring, according to Politico, signaled a shift in the Obama White House toward a "more aggressive focus...on using executive authority to circumvent Congress in the final three years of the administration." However, Podesta's position at the White House brought into question whether his policy decisions would reflect the needs of major CAP donors; the response of Podesta and the CAP board was to make public the list of donors. Moreover, Podesta actively withdrew himself from specific policies and issues that CAP opposed, such as the Keystone XL pipeline.

In February 2015, Podesta left the White House to chair Hillary Clinton's PAC, Hillary for America, the official Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016

See also: Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016

In February 2015, Podesta took up the position of chair of Hillary Clinton's PAC Hillary for America, the official Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. Podesta had just left the White House, where he had served as a senior advisor to President Barack Obama. The New York Times argued that Podesta's presence would "impose a more orderly structure" on the campaign, in contrast to Clinton's disorganized 2008 presidential bid. Echoing the New York Times, Politico described Podesta as the "adult in the room." Moreover, they argued that he would "help integrate longtime Clinton allies and newer former Obama staffers" into Clinton's campaign.

As chairman of the campaign, Podesta is active in fundraising, strategy, and staff management. In an April 2016 piece in Time, the magazine outlined Podesta's role in Clinton's campaign: "It has been Podesta who has been charged with keeping the campaign coherent in the face of stumbles and setbacks, something that the 2008 Clinton operation failed to do. And it has been Podesta— part coach, part gatekeeper, judge and jury, director, fundraiser, policy wonk and strategist—who has overseen the Clinton effort."

Comments on Clinton email server

In May 2016, Podesta issued a press release concerning the investigations into Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Podesta wrote, "Since last year, Secretary Clinton has said her use of a personal email server was a mistake. What she thought would be a convenient way to communicate with family, friends and colleagues – by using one email account for both her work related and personal emails – has turned out to be anything but convenient. ... If she could go back, she’d do it differently. Had Secretary Clinton known of any concerns about her email setup at the time, she would have taken steps to address them. She believed she was following the practices of other secretaries and senior officials."

More on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign staff
Staff overview
• Clinton staff overview
Management and strategy
• Robby Mook, Campaign manager • Joel Benenson, Chief strategist and pollster • Amanda Renteria, Political director • John Podesta, Campaign chairman • Huma Abedin, Vice chair
Communications
• Jennifer Palmieri, Communications director • Jim Margolis, Media advisor
Policy and outreach
• Jake Sullivan, Senior policy advisor • Marlon Marshall, Director of state campaigns and political engagement • Maya Harris, Senior policy advisor • LaDavia Drane, Congressional liaison

Relationship with Clinton's campaign manager

In a September 2016 profile for Yahoo News, Podesta described his relationship with Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook as being like "yin and yang," saying, "I probably am a little bit more emotional and he’s a little bit more analytic. I think we probably compensate for each other." Podesta went on to say that part of the campaign's strategy was to avoid outside influence. He said in the interview that Clinton would tell top donors, "If you’ve got advice, call Robby or call John, and they’ll hear you out," going on to explain that there was "a lack of tolerance for people who wanted to reinvent the campaign."

Potential White House role

In July 2016, The New York Times reported that, according to three Democrats, Podesta would have "the right of first refusal on becoming [Clinton's] chief of staff." In an interview with Politico, Podesta said he would refuse the job. According to the article, Podesta "said he has no interest in doing it [serving as chief of staff] a second time — and may not serve in the administration at all."

Email hack

In October 2016, WikiLeaks announced that it had hacked 50,000 emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign staff, and it began releasing batches of Podesta's emails on October 7. According to CBS News, "Podesta acknowledged his emails were hacked, but has not verify the authenticity of the emails. He warned that messages may have been altered or edited to inflict political damage but has not pointed to any specific case of this." Notable leaked emails included staff discussions of how to address Clinton's use of a private email server and included three transcripts from paid speeches Clinton gave to Goldman Sachs in 2013. Politico reported that the emails also contained a number of exchanges in which Podesta helped to fill positions in the campaign and in other government roles. The site reported, "[T]he trove of Podesta’s correspondence posted by WikiLeaks is a portrait of Washington insiderism, showing powerful people turning into supplicants using connections and flattery."

Biden administration

During the Joe Biden presidential administration, Podesta joined White House staff as a senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation on September 2, 2022. In 2024, Podesta succeeded John Kerry as climate czar in the Biden administration.

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.

See also

• What is an influencer?
• Center for American Progress
• Joe Biden presidential administration
• Hillary Clinton
• Barack Obama
• Bill Clinton
• Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
• Hillary Clinton presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016

External links

• Center for American Progress
• John Podesta on LinkedIn