Joe Lockhart
Encyclopedia
Joseph Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant, best known for being the White House Press Secretary
from October 5, 1998 to September 29, 2000, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton
. He worked as press secretary for several Democratic politicians, including Walter Mondale
, Paul Simon
, and Michael Dukakis
; he was an advisor to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign
. He subsequently founded and became managing director of the communications consulting firm Glover Park Group, a position he held until June 2011, when Facebook recruited him to become its company spokesman.
. He is the son of Raymond Lockhart, a longtime NBC producer associated with the Huntley-Brinkley Report
and special-events coverage. He volunteered for the Jimmy Carter
1976 presidential campaign
, worked for NBC at the 1976 Democratic National Convention
, and worked in Carter's fall campaign press office. He worked for Dick Davis, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
. He graduated from Georgetown University
in 1982. That year, Gannett hired him to do publicity for the launch of USA Today
, in part utilizing his NBC connections.
He was press secretary
for the 1984 presidential campaign
of Walter Mondale
, then worked for Paul Simon
in the Senate. Stints with ABC
and CNN
followed, then the Michael Dukakis campaign
. He moved to Robinson, Lake, Lerer & Montgomery with Mike McCurry, then back to ABC when they hired his (former) wife and colleague from the Mondale campaign Laura Logan. Another gig with NBC covering the Romanian Revolution of 1989
preceded his first on-air job with Sky News
reporting on the Gulf War
and then business. Private practice with Robinson, Lake followed, where he handled publicity for the Al Nahayan family during parts of the BCCI
scandal.
, Mike McCurry recruited Lockhart back into politics, and he joined the 1996 Clinton re-election campaign
. He served as the campaign spokesman and, following President Clinton's successful reelection, as Deputy Press Secretary to McCurry. After standing in for him on occasion to brief the press, Lockhart eventually succeeded McCurry and delivered his first briefing as Press Secretary on October 5, 1998.
Lockhart handled the press during the Clinton impeachment trials
.
presidential campaign
as a senior advisor in September 2004.
On September 8, 2004, CBS News aired a controversial report on presidential candidate George W. Bush's military record
. The authenticity of the Killian documents
used in that report are under scrutiny. In the course of the next few days, it was discovered that Joseph Lockhart, then senior advisor to presidential candidate John Kerry
, had made a phone call to Texas National Guard officer, Bill Burkett
on September 4, 2004. Lockhart stated later that an unnamed female CBS producer asked him to contact Burkett. Lockhart has denied that the call with Burkett had anything to do with the National Guard issue.
Lockhart co-founded the consulting firm Glover Park Group, becoming its Managing Director.
General references:
White House Press Secretary
The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration....
from October 5, 1998 to September 29, 2000, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term...
. He worked as press secretary for several Democratic politicians, including Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon (politician)
Paul Martin Simon was an American politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party...
, and Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
; he was an advisor to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
. He subsequently founded and became managing director of the communications consulting firm Glover Park Group, a position he held until June 2011, when Facebook recruited him to become its company spokesman.
Early life and career
Born in the Bronx, Lockhart grew up in Suffern, New YorkSuffern, New York
Suffern is a village in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of the State of New Jersey; east of Hillburn; south of Montebello and west of Airmont...
. He is the son of Raymond Lockhart, a longtime NBC producer associated with the Huntley-Brinkley Report
Huntley-Brinkley Report
The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
and special-events coverage. He volunteered for the Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
1976 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, worked for NBC at the 1976 Democratic National Convention
1976 Democratic National Convention
The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia for President and Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota for Vice...
, and worked in Carter's fall campaign press office. He worked for Dick Davis, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Lieutenant Governor is elected every four years along with the Governor and Attorney General. The office is currently held by Republican William T. Bolling. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected...
. He graduated from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in 1982. That year, Gannett hired him to do publicity for the launch of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, in part utilizing his NBC connections.
He was press secretary
Press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage....
for the 1984 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
of Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
, then worked for Paul Simon
Paul Simon (politician)
Paul Martin Simon was an American politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the Democratic Party...
in the Senate. Stints with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
followed, then the Michael Dukakis campaign
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
. He moved to Robinson, Lake, Lerer & Montgomery with Mike McCurry, then back to ABC when they hired his (former) wife and colleague from the Mondale campaign Laura Logan. Another gig with NBC covering the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
preceded his first on-air job with Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
reporting on the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and then business. Private practice with Robinson, Lake followed, where he handled publicity for the Al Nahayan family during parts of the BCCI
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
scandal.
Clinton presidential campaign and the White House
At a time when Lockhart was considering working for AOLAOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, Mike McCurry recruited Lockhart back into politics, and he joined the 1996 Clinton re-election campaign
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
. He served as the campaign spokesman and, following President Clinton's successful reelection, as Deputy Press Secretary to McCurry. After standing in for him on occasion to brief the press, Lockhart eventually succeeded McCurry and delivered his first briefing as Press Secretary on October 5, 1998.
Lockhart handled the press during the Clinton impeachment trials
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of...
.
After the White House
Lockhart was brought on to the John KerryJohn Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
presidential campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
as a senior advisor in September 2004.
On September 8, 2004, CBS News aired a controversial report on presidential candidate George W. Bush's military record
George W. Bush military service controversy
George W. Bush's National Guard service was an issue in the 2000 presidential campaign and in the 2004 presidential campaign. A controversy centered on questions of how George W...
. The authenticity of the Killian documents
Killian documents
The Killian documents controversy involved six documents critical of President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard in 1972–73...
used in that report are under scrutiny. In the course of the next few days, it was discovered that Joseph Lockhart, then senior advisor to presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, had made a phone call to Texas National Guard officer, Bill Burkett
Bill Burkett
Bill Burkett was the CBS source in the Killian documents affair of 2004. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Texas Army National Guard....
on September 4, 2004. Lockhart stated later that an unnamed female CBS producer asked him to contact Burkett. Lockhart has denied that the call with Burkett had anything to do with the National Guard issue.
Lockhart co-founded the consulting firm Glover Park Group, becoming its Managing Director.
Sources
Specifics references:General references: