Biden Appoints Campaign Key Advisor To White House Chief Of Staff

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The President-elect of the United States (US) Joe Biden appointed Ron Klain to be the future chief of staff of the White House. He is one of Biden's most trusted campaign advisors.

To quote CNN, Thursday, November 12, Klain has long been seen as a man who will fill the top positions in the Biden government. Because he is not new to the world of government.

Previously, Klain served as Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff during the Bill Clinton administration. Klain was also Joe Biden's chief of staff during his tenure as vice president with President Barack Obama.

"Ron has been invaluable to me over the years we have worked together, including the time we saved the American economy from one of the worst slumps in our history in 2009 and then overcame a dire public health emergency in 2014," Biden said in a statement.

"His deep and varied experience and capacity to work with people across the political spectrum is exactly what I need as the White House chief of staff as we face this moment of crisis and reunite our country."

Klain praised Joe Biden in a statement. He described his new role as "an honor for life."

"I look forward to helping him and the Vice President-elect to assemble a talented and diverse team to work in the White House, as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change and seek to heal divisions in our country," Klain said.

Who is the real Klain?

Klain presents a unique expertise, having been appointed by President Obama to lead the response to the Ebola crisis in 2014. Klain's experience leading the Obama administration's response to public health threats is seen as an asset. During the campaign, Klain became one of the public faces of Biden's team's response to the pandemic.

"The Trump administration's response to this crisis has clearly failed," Klain said in a campaign video attacking Trump's response to the coronavirus released in July. "Donald Trump has raised the white flag in the fight against the coronavirus."

Klain graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987 and became an editor at the Harvard Law Review. He later became clerk of law at the Byron R. White Supreme Court. Biden served as chief adviser to the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1989 to 1992, a term that included the controversial trial surrounding Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court.

Another major role for Klain is that he has been the lead operator of debate preparations for Democratic candidates since Bill Clinton. His work with Clinton took him in a number of different roles in the Clinton administration, including being Al Gore's chief of staff.

After years of partnering at Washington law firms and as general counsel at venture capital firms, Klain was appointed by Biden in 2008 to become its chief of staff. Klain also worked as a senior adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, with a primary focus on preparation for the debate.